TEA and scones, coffee and cake - where would civilised society be without them? The latter in particular is something of an institution in egalitarian Perth, which is forging a reputation nation-wide for the quality of its brews.
TEA and scones, coffee and cake - where would civilised society be without them?
The latter in particular is something of an institution in egalitarian Perth, which is forging a reputation nation-wide for the quality of its brews.
Well, it seems the cakes aren't too bad either.
One café owner all-too-familiar with what Perth cake aficionados like to savour is UK-born pastry chef Sarah Brigden.
After supplying cakes to Perth cafes for the past five years with her business, babyCakes, Ms Brigden decided to open a café of her own.
babyCafé opened on Wanneroo Road in Tuart Hill on September 9.
"This space used to be our office and we did a bit of retail on Saturdays but there was a huge demand to sell during the week, so we thought there was an opportunity there,'' Ms Brigden told Gusto.
The café is located next to La Bruschetta restaurant and stands out with its bright purple colour.
babyCafé seats 20 people and is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 7am to 2pm.
"There are not many places around here for local businesses to get lunch, so we get a lot of people coming in to get take away, grab a coffee and a muffin or a breakfast frittata...we started to do a bit of savoury stuff as well," Ms Brigden says.
"We have a lot of people coming through now because of the location, the logo, the name; the colour of the shop attracts a lot of people," she says.
And the coffee is also top notch.
"I chose to serve Fiori coffee; it is one of the top coffees made in WA, it's an artisan coffee," she says.
Ms Brigden's business partner, Monty Montgomery, who joined the venture four months ago, runs the café side of the business, while the wholesale operation supplies about 70 venues across Perth.
Ms Brigden started her career in Perth as head pastry chef at the King Street Café, where she stayed about three years, before a year spent at Cino to Go.
babyCakes is the exclusive cake supplier for Cino to Go, and supplies other boutique cafes such as Lemon Espresso in Claremont and the Milkd cafes in North Perth and Maylands.
babyCakes' products include a selection of tarts and cakes, such as the popular 'death by chocolate', and biscuits.
Ms Brigden gives talks at high schools about running a small business, as well as cooking classes four times a week.
"I give cooking classes at Upper Crust Catering in West Perth, the Kitchen Warehouse in Melville and Osborne Park, and at the Home Providore in Claremont."
She says it's a constant challenge to come up with fresh ideas and recipes, in addition to overcoming the run-of-the-mill hurdles faced by most small businesses.
"There is a cupcake frenzy at the moment that I am taking the credit for...I believe we have been good at finding new ideas; we're the frontrunners," Ms Brigden says.
"At the moment I am working on new biscuits for the Christmas period, but I won't tell you what they are."
She says that the secret to delicious cakes is the use of fresh products and no pre-mixes. The business also sells cake-making products.
"We sell bakery quality products like proper chocolate and all sorts of decoration like edible glitter, flowers...customers love it," she says.
Those living south of the river may soon be in luck, as Mrs Brigden says there is a chance she may look to open more cafes, particularly in the southern suburbs.
