A new brunch destination is coming to Norwood, with the team behind Adelaide favourite Coffee Institute preparing to open a second venue at 121A The Parade this September.
For owners David Bilusich and Safa Peirawan, the move marks an exciting new chapter for a café that started as a small espresso bar on Main North Road over 10 years ago.
The venue will introduce a new menu and longer trading hours, while retaining the Persian flavours that are deeply important to Safa, whose Iranian heritage continues to inspire the menu.
Before taking over Coffee Institute, Safa and her husband owned traditional Persian restaurant Lezziz on Melbourne Street, serving stews, kebabs, and rice dishes from 2012 before making the move into the café scene.
“Every time I do something, I like to add something from where I come from, because then I feel more comfortable to work with the dishes,” Safa told Glam Adelaide.
“I’m glad people enjoy the flavours because it is scary bringing in something completely new to a different country where people have no experience with the flavour.”
The venue won’t carry the Coffee Institute name, with the owners currently finalising branding and interior design ahead of opening. What diners can expect, however, is a menu that expands beyond brunch, leaning into lunch, Middle Eastern flavours and an inventive dessert offering.
“The menu will be similar, but we will be doing Lebanese pizzas,” she said.
“We’re also going to concentrate on dessert-style pizzas and pastry style drinks – I’m not sure if anybody’s doing it in Adelaide, but you know how they serve hot chocolate in a pastry and drink it with a straw. I’d love to do that,” she said.
Safa’s creative, hands-on approach to the menu has become a hallmark of Coffee Institute and will continue to shape the dishes at the new venue.
“I write up all the items, and I get people to try them in the café, and if they like them, I go ahead and add them to the menu,” she said.
She added that The Parade’s mix of families, visitors and students from surrounding schools lends itself to a more lunch-style menu, with longer opening hours planned to capture the area’s afternoon and evening trade.
“I do want to concentrate on the younger people there, especially because of all the school students,” Marie said.
“At the same time there are a lot of families and tourists.”
With a September opening planned, the new venue will give Safa and David the chance to build on Coffee Institute’s success while creating something distinct for The Parade.
When: Opening September
Where: 121A The Parade
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