Design: Hecker Phelan & Guthrie

Outpost
9 Yarra Street
South Yarra, VIC 3141
03 9827 8588

Riding the wave of restaurant quality food in café environments, South Yarra’s newest laneway destination Outpost, blends an eclectic international menu by Head Chef, Paul Jewson, with St. Ali’s finest Cup of Excellence and single estate coffees. From the St Ali stable, Paul will head the Outpost project as a partner with Salvatore Malatesta.

Situated at 9 Yarra Street, South Yarra, the Outpost kitchen is not just open; it’s the ultimate chef’s table experience where the traditional concept of ‘front of house’ and ‘back of house’ is mixed to the point that that diners actually sit inside the kitchen.

Soon Outpost will feature a charcuterie and when the license is achieved will be open for dinner with a substantial wine list that can be sampled by the glass, by the bottle or by the tasting plate.

Outpost is visually arresting; a beautifully assembled rough-luxe collection of found objects by Hecker Phelan & Guthrie. The café is outfitted with laboratory sinks and stand alone fittings that have been recycled and recontextualised. The overall effect is reclaimed dumpster chic but with a South Yarra context.

Hecker Phelan & Guthrie have made the transition from glamorous and glossy to downright industrial with a refined expression.

Part café, part retail coffee outlet this tiny space has casual random feel about it, yet the whole project has been highly orchestrated, boasting an eclectic mix of what is perceived to be loose furniture items and a somewhat laboratory feel.

The craftsmanship is tangible and the attention to detail can be seen in every custom designed hinge and hook throughout the refined industrial aesthetic.

The blackened steel and zinc elements see age as a blessing, not a curse and the reclaimed timber is happy to see the light of day again, though this time as a cupboard door or a bench top. The concrete tiles in olive greens and blacks are punctuated with an occasional upside down tile thrown into the mix, bearing the textural ‘makers mark’. This design sees a convergence of humour & science - not something you often see in the same sentence!

Outpost (although a newly occupied space) feels loved and cherished. Most mornings see standing room only as the Execs and residents (of the adjacent offices and apartments) come to their “communal kitchen” where the lines blur between where this beautiful institution starts and one’s own office or lounge room ends.