Private events and function hire
What does private events and function hire involve?
Yes — the shopfront and courtyard can be hired after 4pm on weekdays and from 4.30pm on Sundays, seating forty or holding sixty standing. Hire includes a barista on the espresso machine, the sound system and food from our own kitchen. Book at least three weeks ahead.
From $750 — minimum spend, weekday evening up to 40 guests
At a glance
- Capacity
- 40 seated, 60 standing across two rooms and the courtyard
- Available
- Weekdays from 4pm, Sundays from 4.30pm — no Saturdays
- Includes
- Barista for the full hire, sound system, projector, staff
- Music curfew
- Amplified music stops at 10pm, site clear by 10.30pm
- Alcohol
- Unlicensed — temporary limited licence or BYO, arranged in advance
- Deposit
- 20 per cent, refundable up to 14 days before the event
The space
Two connected rooms and a courtyard. The front room seats twenty-four at the long tables, the back room another sixteen with the roaster behind glass as a backdrop, and the courtyard takes the overflow with heaters in winter. Standing, the whole site holds sixty comfortably and seventy uncomfortably, and we will tell you which one you are booking.
Weekday evenings from 4pm and Sundays from 4.30pm. We do not hire out Saturdays — it is the day the cafe pays for itself.
What gets used for what
Book launches and exhibition openings take the front room and the courtyard, standing, with food passed rather than plated. Workshops and team days take the back room, where there is a projector, a whiteboard and enough power outlets for fifteen laptops. Wakes and birthdays usually take the whole site seated, and for those we will move the retail shelving out and put the long tables end to end.
Food and coffee
Catering comes from the same kitchen and the same suppliers as the day menu: grazing boards, a hot dish with two salads, or pastries and sandwiches for a morning event. There is a barista on the machine for the full hire, which is the part people remember, and a filter brew bar as an optional extra for coffee-focused events.
The practical bits
Neighbours on three sides means amplified music stops at 10pm and everyone is out by 10.30. We are not licensed, so alcohol runs either through a temporary limited licence arranged with your caterer or as a BYO arrangement we set up in advance — ask early, because the paperwork takes a fortnight. A 20 per cent deposit holds the date and is refundable up to fourteen days out.
Private events and function hire — common questions
- Is the venue licensed for alcohol?
No. For private functions we either arrange a temporary limited licence through the caterer or set up a BYO arrangement with a responsible-service condition, both of which need about a fortnight of notice. Plenty of events here run dry on the filter bar and a decent non-alcoholic list instead.
- What is included in the hire fee?
Exclusive use of both rooms and the courtyard, a barista on the espresso machine for the whole hire, floor staff, the sound system and the projector in the back room, plus setup and pack-down. Food and any extras such as the filter brew bar are quoted on top and count towards the minimum spend.
- Is the space accessible?
There is a 60mm step at the Gertrude Street door and we keep a portable ramp behind the counter — tell us in advance and it will be down before guests arrive. The front room, back room and courtyard are all level once you are inside, and there is an accessible toilet off the courtyard.