Ellie’s: Local, Fresh and Friendly

Dragonflies symbolise new beginnings, and though Ellie’s Café has been open for 10 years last August, their logo is perfect for the fresh energy flourishing there right now. After a hiatus due to illness, Kylie, owner and operator of Port Kennedy’s favourite local café, decided that they needed a new perspective. Timmy, her new front-of-house manager, and her staff are working alongside her to make this happen, with smiles on their faces and an attitude of ‘Yes!’.

Something that remains, however, is the emphasis on providing a family-friendly, eco-friendly, pet-friendly space.

“A lot of people think we’re not pet-friendly because we’re enclosed, but we give water bowls to dogs, we do dog treats, we’ve got dog biscuits at the counter, and we like having dogs here.”

(Kylie)

She says, “I actually don’t even mind if they’re with them when they’re ordering at the counter, because a lot of people I know, when they go out, don’t like to leave their pets at the table. I’ve got a red-heeler and a blue-heeler, and you can’t leave them at the table, the table will go with them”.*

Inclusivity and sustainability are very important to Ellie’s Café.

In regard to accessibility, there’s ACROD (Australian Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled) parking at the front, accessible toilets, and the team will also head outside to take the orders of people using gophers. It must be said, though, that the café is very mobility friendly, with wide doorways and automatic doors.

Those easy-access doors are also very helpful for people pushing prams! Many mother’s groups and friends with kids meet there, and I know that the reason I discovered Ellie’s Café is because, when he was a toddler, I was searching for a place that both my son and I could enjoy. There’s a nice open space with couches and a play area with toys, and the kid’s meals come with a colouring-in pack and 3D glasses to keep little ones entertained, so that parents can have a moment to eat their meals.

Speaking of food…

It’s important to Ellie’s to take on feedback from customers and to Timmy to keep up with trends. There’s a new selection of keto and gluten-free cabinet options, lots of dietary requirements are catered for, and food is styled on healthy, home-cooked meals. This is to cater not just for people with allergies, but also picky eaters.

Research is important to Kylie. Yet another of our community’s young entrepreneurs, she opened Ellie’s café at the age of 24, but before she did, she made sure that the demographic of the area suited her vision and what she wanted to give. Kylie is a qualified chef, who also does some of the cooking…Timmy calls her Kylie Pie-Fingers, since she has her fingers in all of the pies, including renovating her café with her father.

Food packaging is eco-friendly, and the café tries to reduce plastics, reduce waste, and reuse and recycle as much as possible. Kylie personally takes the cans and bottles to Port Kennedy Containers for Change then donates the money to the various charities listed there at the time.

“That also translates into our stock as well; we have the Lydys, the reusable lids, all the bags are made from upcycled clothing.”

(Timmy)

A lovely addition to the ambience at Ellie’s is the showcasing of local artist’s and small business’s offerings, such as plants by Botany By the Bay, artwork and decals by Mandart Illustration (which Timmy describes as “May Gibbs meets pop-art”), and earrings by SHESCO Unique Creations. Their stock is regularly swapped out so that what’s on offer is fresh and new.

There’s a story behind the café’s name.

Kylie says she never knew why she’d called it Ellie’s until one day her granddad walked in and gave her a little glow-in-the-dark elephant. He told her it was Ellie the Elephant, but she didn’t know what he meant, until he told he that her subconscious had given her the name. Kylie was initially going to name the café Helen’s, after her grandmother who had recently passed away, as she’d taught her how to cook, but she says that it was a bit too close to home. “I didn’t want people asking about that,” she says, as it would have been too upsetting. Ellie’s was close without being too close…her grandfather also reminded her that she’d had a stuffed toy elephant as a child.

A question I always ask is: what’s your favourite local day out?

Kylie and her work family often head to Port Kennedy Tavern or Whistling Kite. They’re a close-knit team, who go out once a week together, and Kylie makes sure this happens on a different day, so that all of the team get a chance to spend time connecting with one another since they are open every day, and someone is always at work.

A new menu is due to drop this week, based on customer feedback to a survey that Kylie sent out. So, it’s the perfect time to drop in and say hello.

(I get the pleasure of reviewing a secret new recipe, so please keep a look out on my Instagram and Facebook accounts to find out if it’s to your taste, too!)

Ellie’s is open 7am to 2pm, Monday to Sunday and is located at 3/397 Warnbro Sound Ave, Port Kennedy. Catering is also available, just head on over to their pinned posts on Facebook and Instagram to get in touch.

*If you’re an astute reader, you may have noticed that my use of double quotation marks is new. Despite going against Australian English grammar rules, this is an intentional change to make my writing more accessible. You can read about my recent introduction to proofreading for sensitivity on a new blog post soon, and if you’d like your copy to be proofread for inclusivity, please get in touch here.