Images: My Kingdom for a Horse/Facebook
One of Adelaide’s best-known brunch spots has announced it will be closing by the end of the week, after 11 years of serving us some of the best coffee Adelaide has to offer.
Although, the closure is not all doom and gloom, it actually aims to make room to focus on a “centralised production model designed to support the growth of their boutique cafe and espresso bar network.”
My Kingdom for a Horse (MKFAH) has been through a heck of a ride, it was there through Adelaide’s boom into the brunch scene, COVID 19, and now cost of living pressures.
Hospitality veteran and the mastermind behind the venue, Emily Raven, said she was incredibly proud of the place they called home.
“However, the industry is changing,” Emily said.
“We are realigning to a centralised model by moving the ‘heavy lifting’ of our kitchen and roasting to a specialist hub.
“This allows us to grow our smaller cafes and focus on what we do best: award-winning coffee and world-class patisserie.”
So while their flagship store may be going down in history, they’ll be able to support more of what they love and that means more venues across the state.
This adds to their already extensive offering with venues on Waymouth Street, King William Street and Pirie Street.
The central kitchen and roastery approach aims to provide consistency and sustainability. MKFAH will have a dedicated patisserie arm led by Parisian pastry chef Guillaume Sebastien, allowing the venue to venture into catering later this year.
The central roastery will include a South Australian first, with the launch of an all-electric Probat roaster powered by a 29,000 KW solar system on the roof.
The new approach will also see the business transition from a single owner operation into a multi-brand leadership team
under Round Table Supply Co, bringing long-term employees Gennie Chee and Executive Chef Stéphane Brizard into the team.
Gennie comes from ten years with MKFAH and Stéphane who hails from France, adds 30 years of finely honed culinary knowledge alongside overseeing their award-winning sister restaurant, A Prayer for the Wild at Heart.
“Post-COVID, hospitality businesses have experienced significant increases in operational costs and compliance requirements,” Emily said.
“This has severely impacted margins, as price sensitivity prevents us from raising prices to cover these extra expenses.
“Like other South Australian hospitality venues, our growth is negatively impacted by looming payroll tax obligations that unfairly target compliant, labour-intensive industries with low profit margins like ours.”
MKFAH has also found it challenging to find qualified staff as a large portion of the hospitality sector is made up of students and working holiday visa holders.
Another issues was the cost of living pressures and rising prices.
Emily said the team know first hand the “inflationary pain” customers have gone through in recent years, which is why this is such an important time to maintain quality and value.
“We now need to adapt to keep prices and quality stable, not only by absorbing fair and reasonable price increases from our suppliers, but by thinking outside the box,” she said.
“We’re not just surviving; we’re innovating.
“We’re taking everything we’ve learned over the last decade and distilling it into a smarter, more focused, and more sustainable business.”
Their time on Wright Street has been cherished, loved and valued by locals and the team behind the doors for more than a decade, and now regular are invited to come along for one final coffee run.
This Sunday is the last time you’ll be able to enjoy a coffee or snack at the original Wright Street venue, where it all began.
My Kingdom for a Horse
Last day of business: Sunday June 21
Where: 191 Wright Street
For more, click here.
