What do you get when you combine three friends, a closed down brothel, and 100,000 coffee cups? The answer is Fyshwick’s newest café and sandwich bar, Happy Ending.

Opened in a newly renovated building, the café serves up “quickies” (aka lunch in hurry), consisting of locally roasted coffee and a weekly menu of rotating sandwiches, sweets, and pastries.

Happy Ending began as a joke between friends, Kent Nhan and Greg Lally of XO and ILY restaurants, and Frank Iannelli of Alpha Fresh Foods.

When Frank and Greg, also partners in plant-based venture Vood, were in the market for a business unit, the cheapest they could find in Fyshwick was the old locale of infamous night-time destination, Lollipop Lounge.

“Meanwhile, ILY, previously known as Morning Glory, had transitioned to night-only after lockdowns,” Frank, 35, told CW. “The only problem was they had already commissioned 100,000 coffee cups.”

The plan to turn the coffee cups and spare room in the unit into a café named Happy Ending began as a “complete joke between friends, we never intended for it to be serious”.

The trio whipped up Happy Ending in just eight weeks, by embracing the raw elements of the structure and abundance of natural light.

“We weren’t sure [the name] was going to be received the best way, but actually everyone’s loving it because of the history of the building.”

“It’s a bit of a happy ending for the building as well, which gets to live on in a new format,” Kent added. 

Happy Ending is open Monday to Friday 6.30am-2.30pm at 106-108 Gladstone Street, Fyshwick.

Canberra Daily tried and tasted! Workday lunches have been elevated at Natural Nine, located in the heart of the city inside Casino Canberra.

Head chef, Jason Kok, crafts tasty twists on classic Asian dishes in Natural Nine’s signature ‘pop Chinese’ style.

Their new Yum Cha Friday menu allows you to try one of everything without blowing your budget.

Taste editor Anja de Rozario’s top picks were the adorable cheese siew pork boas (made to look like roosters on this visit), chicken and wakame dumplings, five spice tempura fried eggplant, and salt & pepper squid.

Be sure to bring a friend to make the most out of the moreish menu.

Made inhouse and with fresh products, it will hit the table before you are even halfway through one of their delicious candy-themed cocktails.

Monday through to Thursday are being looked after as well, with the new Chop Chop lunch; mouth-watering dumplings, a big bowl of noodles and a drink for $15.

Natural Nine’s Friday Yum Cha runs from noon to 3pm, and their Chop Chop lunch special runs on all other weekdays from noon to 2pm.

To make a reservation, call 6257 7074.

In celebration of Campari’s Negroni Week, 12-18 September, Ovolo Hotels have created ‘The Decadent Count’, a specially curated cocktail which will be available for one week only across their 11 restaurants and bars worldwide.

Partnering with St Remio Coffee in Australia, Ovolo’s drinks specialists have taken the globally beloved Negroni recipe and added a kick of caffeine to create their unique coctail, which they’ve taken to the next level with a garnish of Campari infused cacao nibs.

As part of Negroni Week, bars around the world will be mixing Negronis for a good cause, donating $1 from every Negroni purchase to Slow Food.

Slow Food is a global, grassroots organisation that advocates cultural and biological diversity, promoting food education and advocating for more just and equitable food policies. The Decadent Count is available in Australia for $22.

For more information, visit ovolohotels.com/negroni-week

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