Many of Geelong’s natives will know the old butcher’s building down Skene Street in Newtown. It’s quirky, it’s a little old, and it’s now got a new lease on life after been transformed into a little neighbourhood hangout two years ago, the much-loved café Newfolk.
With hand-painted stools, a deep blue feature wall, indoor plants and stunning pendants, Newfolk sports a casual and mellow neighbourhood vibe, and one that all of Newtown know and love. It’s the happy vibes though, as much for the friendly barista’s perfectly steamed milk, that has the locals coming back time and time again, especially with new owner Harry Adamson behind the machine, who already knows the names of everyone on the block, if not all their coffee orders.
We sat down with the country boy/entrepreneur/barista to talk all things Newfolk.
Hey Harry! Congrats on the cafe. How did your Newfolk journey begin?
I worked here for most of last year and absolutely fell in love with the place, so when Jaz offered it to me, I jumped at the opportunity.
What sets you aside from other cafes around Geelong?
We try to make an as low environmental impact as possible, by minimising waste wherever we can. We send all of our compostable waste to a small composting facility in Anakie, Just Composting, as well as working with our suppliers to minimise single-use packaging in deliveries and encouraging our customers to bring in reusable cups. We also bake most of our cakes in-house, but on the weekends we get Swedish Cinnamon Scrolls and a range of pastries from Vivienne Lucy – who by the way has the best pastries in the area.
Do you get to use many local suppliers?
We love to support local, so we try to use as many local suppliers as possible, such as Born and Bread, the Fresh Food Merchant, Westeggs, Vivienne Lucy and Kingsfolk. But we do get a few things from some amazing suppliers in Melbourne. Our coffee, for example, we get from SmallBatch Roasters out of North Melbourne and we get an AMAZING hot chocolate from Monsieur Truffe in Brunswick East.
Where do you draw your menu inspiration from?
We get it from whatever produce is in season at the time, and also from throwing around some ideas with staff, friends and colleagues in the local café scene.
Can we pretty please get a little sneak peek of the winter menu?
I won’t let the cat out of the bag too soon, so all I’ll say is to expect warm and inviting wintery foods, the type of foods to warm you up from the inside out.
While the new menu is definitely something we’re looking forward to, we’re also loving the new little initiative Newfolk has jumped on board with – One Good Cup. These guys are a Geelong startup whose goal is to eliminate the need for all single-use takeaway containers by providing their very own ‘keep cup’ subscription. It’s pretty cool and definitely something worth checking out so pop in and chat to Harry about the initiative, and help support this great new business and give back to Mother Nature in the process!
You can find Newfolk Café at 105 Skene Street, Newtown and follow them on Instagram @newfolk_cafe.
Written by Chloe Cicero
