Albert House's first instalment : LOBBY Coffee & Wine

Delicious bagels, great coffee and a glass of wine when the sun sets – sounds like the perfect combination right?

That’s exactly the genius idea behind South Melbourne’s new Cafe and Wine Bar – LOBBY Coffee & Wine.

The new established is the first piece behind Andrew Ryan & Sam Daish’s redevelopment of Seven Nightclub and sets the scene for their grand plan ahead.

The cafe is modern and industrial chic, which suits its surroundings perfectly and acts like the ideal base for all the layers yet to come.

The menu attracts a brunch crowd as much as it does the after work foodies – with amazing bagels and coffee by day – and charcuterie platters with a glass off wine by night.

The team is set to revamp the building in its entirety within the next 12 months and create – ‘Albert House’. With the first stage now complete, the next stages will include an Asian Fusion restaurant/bar on the ground level, and a cocktail and spirit bar, karaoke room and a private space on the first floor.

There’s no doubt this exciting new development will be a Melbourne hot spot.

I had the pleasure to sit down with the team and discuss the concept behind LOBBY – the first piece of the puzzle.

I have to say the idea of bagels coffee and wine sounds like my kind of happy place – how did you come up with the concept for Lobby Coffee & Wine?

We have been in the building since 1999 and the space has always been underutilised.

We started conceptualising ideas for changing Seven Nightclub to a complete Food and Beverage offering and the idea came to develop the space into an intimate AM / PM business with a simple food and beverage offering.

Bagels were missing in the area so we thought that this would be a product that would set us apart from the neighbouring businesses.

What sets it apart?

Dedication to craft, working closely with our coffee partners, Niccolo, we strive to consistently hit the perfect blend.

We do these through quality of product and quality of our barista’s.

We have a good wine list that isn’t too in-depth that creates confusion, a wine list that covers all the requirements of a educated wine drinker.

Throughout the space and food & beverage offering, we are focusing on simplicity and a team that love what they do and love serving customers whether local or from afar.

How did you create the name?

When we go through the naming process, often you start with the literal and work through to the abstract, in this case we felt that the literal was the best approach and as the space is the lobby for the building which has Seven Nightclub on level 1 and Thrive Network on the 2^nd and third floor, simple was the best in this case.

Talk us through the menu – what can we expect?

Lobby Coffee & Wine offers breakfast and lunch with the menu primarily focused on a handful of foods including bagels with currently three different fillings as well as a few spreads, Urban Projuice’s vegan products, Butterbing Cookie Sandwiches and Who I Is Healthbars.

For evenings, we are serving a variety of bar snacks & antipasto style charcuterie and cheese platters complimenting the wines on offer.

Why did you choose South Melbourne?

We were already here so it was a very easy decision but in saying that, the area has changed tremendously since Seven first opened with a number of new residential and commercial developments and down the track.

The new Anzac train station part of the Metro tunnel will be basically on our door step bringing a whole new customer base.