These days, it’s not unusual to see cafes indulging in a bit of a double dip by opening at night as a bar. Masters St Coffee opens in the evenings as After Dark Wine, Toowong’s Josie North extends its trading hours beyond sunset on Fridays, as does Priorities in Alderley. George Curtis of Before + After in The City is doing the inverse of this, handing over the keys to his amaro-spilling laneway haunt to the coffee-savvy crew behind Drip in Newstead, who are – as of Monday January 9 –pumping out brews and bites during the daytime hours.

 Fool Me Once at Before + After is the name of the nifty nosh concept, which was conceived by George as a way to activate the venue outside of the bar’s usual post-dusk operating times and also draw in a different kind of clientele – perhaps some that didn’t know about the bar. George, a regular at Drip, convinced owner Yolanda Van Houtte to team up on the idea, with venue manager Sam Brackley also coming aboard as shareholder and collaborator on the concept.

“When I built Drip, I never in a million years would have planned on doing it again,” says Yolanda. “I’d swore black and blue that I’d never go near The City, then I saw photos of what George had done with the space down here – the whole vibe and concept with his bar is something that really appealed to me. Once we we did a bit of research into the reputation of Bean, that was a real pull.”

With a ready-made space open to them, Yolanda and Sam have concentrated their efforts in curating an offering that matches Fool Me Once’s subterranean locale, honing in on a direction favouring satisfying simplicity and a dash of convivial charm. “We just want to bring a bit of fun back into the cafe game,” says Sam. “We just want to strip it way back and have some good product.”

Fool Me Once has linked up with The Black Lab Coffee Co., running its Platinum Blend through the machine alongside hot filter single-origin batch brews and a cold brew blend (two cold-pressed juices are also available). On the food front, the majority of Fool Me Once’s fare is made at Drip, including its granola and cabinet goodies. The menu encompasses snacks like ham and cheese croissants and banana bread that are easy to consume on the move, as well as dine-in gear like sourdough toast with spreads, bircher muesli with macerated berries and scrambled eggs with bacon or smoked salmon, plus avocado and halloumi. Once the breakfast service is humming, the team is eager to expand into lunch. For now, Fool Me Once is open from Monday to Friday from 6:00 am. You can find more info over in the Stumble Guide.

This article was written by James Frostick at The Weekend Edition.