It takes a brave soul to open a cafe opposite one of Sydney’s most well-regarded coffee shops. And to build and install it in just three weeks.

But that’s what Laurie Holmes did. The 26-year-old signed a lease for a space in Potts Point’s Llankelly Place, directly across from Room 10 and 21-days later – with the help of his interior designer wife Alison Drager and handyman brother Warwick Holmes – the doors to Orwells were swung open.

Orwells has a focus on great coffee (sourced from Byron Bay’s Marvell Street roasters), and a menu big on wholegrains, house-made yoghurts, ferments and pickled things.

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The offering is heavily influenced by Holmes’s interest in “eating well and eating with purpose”, and Gut, the bestselling book on gut health by German doctor Giulia Enders.

Holmes and head chef Julia Le Gouic (a former pastry chef at Bentley Restaurant and Bar and Public Dining Room), is deep into the world of prebiotics, probiotics and SCOBYs (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast – the starter culture of kombucha).

An avocado and beetroot toast is boosted with beetroot labneh; the eggs on toast come with fuschia-hued kraut; and the kim-cheese toastie features the Orwells version of of vegan kimchi pickle, made without fish sauce or shrimp. The dishes are colourful (and predominantly vegetarian-friendly), and earn the “nourishing” tag without skimping on flavour.

But it’s the drinks menu where things get interesting. There’s an ever-changing roster of black- and green-tea kombucha flavours, made with Balmain’s Tippity Tea, as well as water kefir. “It’s essentially fermented [soda] water. It’s sweeter, just as bubbly, but far less acidic and much more approachable than kombucha,” says Holmes.

In any given week, it’s common for Holmes to brew up to five different flavours of each fermented beverage. There might be ginger and turmeric kombucha, or strawberry, fennel and lime water kefir.

In summer, he’ll be introducing tepache, a Mexican drink of “wild-fermented” pineapple skins. “[It uses] the pre-existing yeast and bacteria found in the pineapple skin, as opposed to introducing a SCOBY. Pineapples have pre-existing bacteria on the outside that lend themselves to [ideal] fermentation. It tastes like a slightly fizzy, slightly sweet pineapple drink,” Holmes tells Broadsheet.

Holmes is especially proud of the cafe’s waste-not-want-not philosophy. The kitchen prepares its house-made ingredients in small batches to minimise waste, and food scraps and a portion of its used coffee beans are sent to the nearby Wayside Chapel to be turned into compost for its rooftop community garden.

Holmes is a difficult person to interview. When Broadsheet visits, we’re frequently interrupted by customers keen to greet, farewell and chat to him. It was a gamble opening in such a competitive area, but Orwells has distinguished itself from its competitor across the laneway (though he has a friendly relationship with Room 10), and has struck a chord with the Potts Point brunch crowd.

“We’re a different beast ... It's very village-y at Potts Point; the community is really supportive,” says Holmes.

Orwells
4/29 Orwells Street, Potts Point
(Corner of Llankelly Place & Springfield Mall)

Hours:
Mon to Fri 7am–3pm
Sat & Sun 8am–3pm

www.orwells.coffee

This article first appeared on Broadsheet on September 17, 2018. Menu items may have changed since publication.