Grande opening

A new cafe housed in a shipping container opened last week in Northgate and already locals, commuters and cabbies are taking advantage of the early opening hours to nab themselves a coffee and a spot of breakfast.

Opposite Northgate train station Grande Caffe starts service at the wee hour of 4.30am. Owned by pastry cook Joe La Sauce and barista with a background in five star hotels, Viv Datta, it's the perfect match for neighbour Grand Ideas, a quirky "salvage emporium" selling vintage household, garden and construction material. And keeping in with that ethos, not only is the cafe itself recycled, but all the tables are made from recycled materials.

Open seven days for breakfast and lunch, Grande Caffe also offers a selection of home-made pastries, from lemon tarts to chocolate ganache tarts to good old-fashioned custard tarts, made by La Sauce. Datta is in charge of the coffee machine using locally roasted Elixir Coffee. In a semi-industrial area with an under-representation of decent cafes, we reckon locals are right to be excited.

Grande Caffe, 40 Holland St, Northgate (07) 3162 4333