After five years specialising as a pizza kitchen, Wolf and Swill has decided to expand its services by opening earlier in the day to cater to morning coffee customers.
“Being open during the daytime has always been in our plans, and it wasn’t something we could do in our old space,” says Wolf and Swill part-Owner James Towler.
He hopes that by providing a range of menu options throughout the day, guests can ‘wolf’ down the food and ‘swill’ the drinks as much as they please, hence the name.
James, like much of the staff, has not worked in a coffee-serving space for years, but says Campos Coffee roasters have been instrumental in helping the business grow.
“They’ve been very good to us,” he says. “When I was choosing a coffee roaster to go with, Campos stood out to me because they’re also looking to grow.”
Campos Coffee has helped develop Wolf and Swill’s bartenders into baristas with a series of visits to introduce staff to the coffee world.
“Having Campos come in and provide us with training has been really helpful,” James says.
The restaurant has been using Campos’ Superior blend and plans to expand its café ventures further by introducing specialty espresso offerings in the near future.
“We’re slowly building as a café, but we’re looking forward to growing even more in the summer,” says James.
The restaurant still takes great pride in its pizzas, evident by its equipment and versatility of food.
“Our oven is one of the more unique things about us,” he says. “We can bake a loaf of bread in three minutes, so we make a lot of our foods based around what we can do with it.”
The development of Wolf and Swill’s café has also given the team confidence to open in a new location in Frankston, in early 2024.
“We love the community aspect of it all,” James says. “It’s been nice for us to grow alongside the restaurant.”
Wolf and Swill
826 High Street Thornbury, Victoria 3071
Open Monday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00am – 10:30pm, Tuesday to Thursday 10:00am – 10:00pm Sunday 10:00am – 4:00pm
This article appears in the December 2023 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
