New cafe-cum-bar for Taylor Square

Ben Sweeten has schooled himself in the art of cafe cool as well as bars with city ventures, such as Kansas City Shuffle and Tuxedo.

His next venture will mix both after picking up a prominent Sydney location.

Sweeten and business partner Shirin Topaloglu have nabbed the Coco Cubano site at Taylor Square, naming the new venue Sir Allen Taylor & Co after the man who gave the location its name.

Taylor was a timber merchant and lord mayor of Sydney who, among other things, oversaw the widening of Oxford Street.

"It's a cafe by day, bar by night," Sweeten says.

The duo has given the site a major overhaul. "We should be able to do well with the prime exposure we have," he says of its busy location.