01 Marcus Allison Bunker, Brisbane
Bunker is a concrete shelter just 3m wide and 5m deep. We understand it was built sometime in the 1940s. It has been completely overgrown by a creeping fig, which does from time to time bear fruit (though my research tells me they should only be eaten by the birds and not with chevre and honey as I hoped). The facade is a retaining wall 118 for the front yard of the old Queenslander behind it. I’ve always opted for no signage as I think the beauty of the space is signage enough. I set up my first business in 2008 which started out as a hot chocolate stall and progressed to include coffee at the Kelvin Grove Markets. I was loosely on the lookout for a permanent space to operate from. It was actually a friend who pointed the space out to me and I instantly fell in love with it. After seeing the passing foot traffic heading to work from the nearby train station, I went for it. I usually get woken early, bleary-eyed, by my three-year-old and immediately boil the kettle for a cup of instant coffee. Before you gasp – it’s from another business I set up called Instant Specialty. We were the first in Australia to produce our own instant coffee from specialty-grade coffee. Once I get into work, I usually have at least another espresso, a full-cream flat white and a cup of batch brew from either Bunker or our sibling cafes Bessa and John Mills Himself. Happy days.
