Just Open: Sir Charles, Fitzroy

For more than a decade, this prime Johnston Street site has been all about bagels. But a desire for change and an old friendship have transformed Beans & Bagels into Sir Charles Espresso Bar and Restaurant.

Stephen and Angela McGinness, who have owned and operated the bagel hub for the past 13 years, have teamed up with Dave Makin and Zoe Delany from Axil Roasters and two other couples to open the 60-seat cafe, named after the former Governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy.

Delany, who worked at the bagel cafe 10 years ago and kept in touch with the McGinnesses, has had her eye on the site for the past few years. She and Makin co-own Axil in Hawthorn and the CBD, Box Office in Geelong and Sticks & Stones in Torquay. They're joined by front-of-house manager Andy Smith and wife, Kat, and chef Tyler Preston and his wife, interior designer Georgina Lee, who has given the bagelry its new identity.

They've sold the bagel ovens, knocked out a partition and low ceiling and enlarged the side windows, creating a huge, airy space finished with copper trims and blonde wood. "It's a south-facing building so bringing in the natural light was important," says Delany.

Preston has drawn on his time in the Chin Chin kitchen to give the menu an Asian spin. At breakfast there's soft boiled eggs with buttery soldiers alongside miso scrambled eggs with onion roti and citrus sambal. Lunch may be Korean fried chicken burger with house kimchi next or steak sandwich with slaw and pickles but dinner is "100 per cent south-east Asian and all about dishes to share," says Makin.

Naturally, coffee is a focus, with a Probat roaster at the back of the dining room creating their own Sir Charles blend, which will also be available to take home.

Sir Charles is open daily for breakfast and lunch and Thursday to Saturday for dinner.

121 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, 9415 7077