Eighth Avenue ready to be Milkd

Prominent restaurateur Nic Trimboli has previously told Gusto he is a big believer in retaining talented staff by providing them with opportunities at new venues.

By opening a new venue, an experienced manager is given a new challenge, while at the same time an up-and-comer can take on more responsibility at the older venue, he says.

It’s growth and succession at the same time.

The strategy adopted by Mr Trimboli seems to have struck a chord with coffee connoisseur Lorena Tati, who is embarking on a similar plan with the opening next week of her second Milkd cafe.

The new Milkd is located on Eighth Avenue in Maylands and will be managed by Julian Armstrong, who was previously heading up the operations at Milkd in North Perth.

His move to Maylands has made way for a promotion for barista Lachlan Taylor, who will assume management of the Angove Street cafe, while Ms Tati has decided to split shifts between both venues.

“The biggest inspiration to open our second store was my staff,” Ms Tati says.

“I may have lost two of the best baristas Perth has to offer. They need ownership, responsibility and a secure pay structure.”

But Milkd number two it is not all about staff retention.

Ms Tati, who helped establish Highgate’s popular Soto Café, wanted to open a second Milkd ever since she opened her first Milkd cafe in North Perth about two years ago.

It was just a matter of finding the right location.

Ms Tati says that, like North Perth, Maylands has a broad cross-section of residents and she is keen to be an early mover on what will become a bustling strip.

“It is completely untouched but I see fabulous markets of people and a big cross-section of people,” she says.

“North Perth is like that. It has a very cosmopolitan feel and it just needed something to bring out the characteristics that were already there.

“In Maylands I see this amazing street, there is a St Vinnnies and old barber shops; I think it has amazing potential.”

Nearby, John Rifici and Sons Cafe, affectionately called Riffo’s by the locals, has been a bright spot on the nearby Guildford Road corner.

Ms Tati says a number of recently completed and planned residential apartment projects are nearby, something that highlighted a growing influx of residents to the area.

“If I can get in when it’s a bit mediocre and get 5 per cent of the market I will be happy,” she says.

While the Maylands Milkd will be very similar to the funky North Perth cafe, Ms Tati says rather than being “long and thin”, the layout will be “short and fat”.

The colour schemes, the menu and, importantly, she says, the attitude of the staff will remain the same.

And the coffee, the cafe’s driving force, will be the same as in North Perth – Essenza Coffee, which is an Arabican blend imported as the green bean, and roasted daily in Perth.

She says the beans used by Milkd have a shelf life of just 12 hours, ensuring each cup of coffee is made from fresh beans.