The Poernomo brothers are taking their Chippendale Dessert Bar to Macquarie Centre with the launch of a permanent store.
The Sydney shopping centre offered the dessert brand a fixed outlet on the back of their pop-up earlier in the year.
“We did a pop-up there in May and we know it’s a good mall,” co-owner Ronald Poernomo tells Hospitality. “There are a lot of uni students, young couples and families and we feel that our market is in one mall.”
The site is scheduled to open mid-November and will be located in the same place as Doughnut Time, which shuttered months ago after the brand crumbled.
KOI Macquarie will focus on cakes and debut a range of drinks that were specifically created for the outlet after they were told they couldn’t have a coffee machine.
“Initially, we wanted a coffee machine, but the centre said no because there are too many cafes within the mall,” says Poernomo. “So we ended up making our own milk-based drinks including ice black sesame, matcha, ice white roasted chocolate and ice dark chocolate.” The KOI team are also working with StrangeLove to create their own bespoke sodas.
The store will focus on a revolving roster of cakes which will be made at the KOI central kitchen in Ryde and delivered to the centre.
To celebrate the new store, the team will debut the Galaxy cake, a Nomtella drink inspired by the cake and a Ruby creation made with pink chocolate.
KOI will also launch a new Bon Bon collection which will feature a marble and gold Nomtella variety along with a Milky Way flavour.
Watch Hospitality‘s Milo and beer dessert masterclass with Reynold Poernomo here.