Meet the neighbours: Up Café

We’d like to introduce our neighbour Lisa Hawkins, fabulous foodie and driving force behind Up Café on level one of Quay West on Albert Street.

Lisa realised her dream of owning her own café a couple of years ago, alongside husband Aaron, after working in hospitality almost all her life.

The mother of four said that while running her own cafe can be “rewarding, challenging and definitely cause the occasional mental breakdown” – she still loves it.

“I love being here, in every business there are going to be road blocks (literally) but you can’t focus on those road blocks – you have to keep going.”

“The main point is that if you love what you do and are passionate about it, you just get on with it.

Up Café serves up gourmet cabinet food, such as delicious croissants and brownies as well as a full menu – she said the omelettes and salads are among the most popular items. Another good thing about Up’s food is the generous portion size, “you get a lot of bang for your buck!”.