Udaya (Kazi) Basnet (left) and Deepak Subedi have used their catering skills to reopen KAFE BLA9K behind Myer. Photos: Jarryd Rowley.
KAFE BLA9K has reopened under new management and with a new menu.
After its doors closed in May, many thought they had seen the last of the iconic cafe built into the back of Wagga’s Myer store. Thankfully, those fears were put to rest thanks to the new owners, catering gurus Deepak Subedi and Udaya (Kazi) Basnet, who took over management and got the store back up and running.
“I used to get coffee from here every morning back when it was called KAFE BLA9K 322,” Deepak said.
“I had an office out the front of Myer, and I would park around the back and grab a coffee on the way through. One day, I came through for my regular coffee, and it was closed!
“I thought, why is such a nice little cafe like this closed? I contacted Myer to try and find out more, and that’s where it started.”
Deepak and Udaya run and own a catering business, Cater House Wagga, which operates out of the Murrumbidgee Turf Club.
Deepak said their experience operating that business, and their experienced chefs and baristas, who had made the transition to the new cafe, had made the quick turnaround and opening possible.
“We already had suppliers,” he said. ”We already had staff working there, so it’s just filling out the space.
“We have pretty much everything to run a cafe, so we thought, why don’t we try and give this little cafe some new life and get it up and running again?
“Opening a new venue would take anywhere from eight to 12 months and initially, that’s how long we thought it was going to take.
“But when we got into the space, we exactly knew what we were doing, so we actually went to Myer and said, we think we can open within three months.
“We did a lot of work behind the scenes, obviously. There was a lot of testing, a lot of trialling, equipment-wise. We had a lot of breakdowns and maintenance, and things always didn’t go as planned, as you can imagine in new ventures, but we overcame all those and now we’re open for business.”
The duo behind Cater House Wagga are excited for new and previous customers to return to the cafe and try their offerings.
With the support of seasoned staff and chefs, including the near-40 years’ combined experience as chefs between Deepak and Udaya, the new KAFE BLA9K places a greater focus on food, including grab-and-go options.
“We’ll be more focused on food because of our background in the catering space. We have chefs that really care for the food that we offer,” Deepak said.
“There will be a lot of food offerings that you can see in the coming days that I think will make a lot of difference compared to the previous operations in this space.
“We’ve updated some of the layout and offerings, especially for the Grab and Go sector, because we know that a lot of office workers visit from around here.
”So, sandwiches, ham-and-cheese croissant muffins and salads will be available as well as our menu items. That way, people can spend as little or as long in-store as they like.”
Deepak said the support and enthusiasm from Myer allowed the cafe to be up and running as quickly as possible.
“Myer was looking for an operator of the cafe to produce quality meals, so when they heard that’s what we wanted to offer, they were super supportive from day one to help us set up the venue,” he said.
“They’ve offered us ways to advertise the operating hours of the store through PA announcements and signs in their front window. It’s been a real team effort.”
Despite only opening its doors on Monday morning (11 August), the cafe has already seen repeat customers bragging about the quality of its food and coffee.
“Seeing and hearing that makes us feel like we made a great decision and that we’re here for a reason,” Deepak said.
KAFE BLA9K can be found behind Myer at 233 Baylis Street. It is open seven days a week, from 7 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday, and 9 am to 2 pm, Saturday and Sunday.
