Giraffe Cafe in South Street is preparing for the spring/summer with a few changes. While most of us will do a couple of little household changes for our spring clean, Giraffe has stepped up their game quite a bit. There are structural changes, decorative changes, and even some tweaks to their menu on the horizon. Janet Young (Front of House Manager at Giraffe, South Street) was kind enough to take a few moments to tell us more about their renovation project.

Changes in store

Giraffe cafe is all about inclusiveness so two major changes will aim to allow a wider part of the community to enjoy their lovely café. The entrance is to be made more wheelchair accessible and the café itself will now have a disabled toilet and ramp. They will also gain two opaque side windows which will allow extra light. There are also plans to include some comfy seating at the front of the café with upcycled tables and chairs softened out with chalk paint.  Giraffe's trainees will be involved in this, as part of their Upcycling Group.

The kitchen will also enjoy a complete revamp with a new cooker, reworked walls, and electrics. In fact, the whole kitchen is set to change. So what will this mean for the menu? Well, don't worry they'll still have a lot of the favourites on the menu. That said, we couldn't blame Steven Pearson (Giraffe, South Street's Head Chef) if he took the new kitchen as an opportunity to think up new ideas to tempt the palate.

Helping a great Social Enterprise do what they do best

It's pretty clear that everyone in Giraffe is looking forward to seeing the changes.  Manager Janet, in particular, is looking forward to the 'makeover', noting that: "It will look like a totally new café. It will be easier to access the kitchen for front-of-house staff.  At present, there is one door to the kitchen and it is difficult to open with a full tray! There will be two doors – one in, one out, for the kitchen when we open again.  It will be so much easier for all of our Trainees, Volunteers and Staff."

Giraffe is a Social Enterprise which runs alongside its charitable wing Checkin Works. Together they look out for their staff and trainees and help them make the most of their work. We've written about their incredible range of opportunities in a previous post, you can click here to find out more about what Giraffe/Checkin Works do.

But don't worry the Giraffe in Mill Street will look after us

Giraffe has us covered. They've been careful to make sure that their wonderful, cosy Mill Street Café has changed its opening hours (their sister café outside the Playhouse Cinema). They'll now be open from 8am – 6pm, Monday to Saturday. They've also taken their usual Mill Street menu and extend it slightly so that South Street patrons have a few familiar choices too.

In the afternoons they'll be there tempting customers, old and new, with coffee and crepes. Savoury or sweet. They also make, amongst other items, all their own cakes, coleslaw, oatcakes, and soups.

One convenient thing is their meat supplier. Their butcher meat comes from Lindsay's Butchers which happens to be just around the corner from Mill Street.

All of Giraffe, Mill Street's food and coffee can be eaten in or take-away as they are more than happy to cater to those on the go.

How long do we have to wait?

It's great that we'll still be looked after along at Mill Street, but how long will we have to wait to visit South Street again? Janet explains that they are aiming to open Giraffe, South Street again at the beginning of May (all being well). Janet can't wait: "It will be wonderful to greet everyone back to our new look café!"

If you are a Mi Rewards member you might also be wondering about whether your morning coffee will still be earning you Mi Points. Never fear, the Giraffe Café on Mill Street has also offered Mi Points from the very beginning, so your caffeine fix will still come with a few points too.

If you aren't earning points on every spend in over sixty Perth businesses, what are you waiting for? It's simple, and FREE to join Mi Rewards. Just click here to join Mi Rewards and start earning loyalty points today.