David Cooney, the entrepreneur who brought Van's Sidewalk Café to Cottesloe and Aubergine to South Fremantle, is continuing on his campaign to bring good coffee and food to suburban Perth with a new venture in Nedlands.
David Cooney, the entrepreneur who brought Van's Sidewalk Café to Cottesloe and Aubergine to South Fremantle, is continuing on his campaign to bring good coffee and food to suburban Perth with a new venture in Nedlands.
Six Clicks West, which is located on Hampden Road, is very different from Mr Cooney's other ventures.
What's not changed, according to the Matilda Bay Brewery-trained restaurateur, is the focus on quality produce and service.
"I never set out to build a chain but I wanted there to be some common thread, a standard through them, a quality that is identifiable," Mr Cooney told Gusto.
"It is pretty much the same idea as Matilda Bay Brewery. There was the Sail and Anchor, the Brass Monkey and Oriel. They all had their own identity but you could kind of tell which group they belonged to.
"That's what I've tried, but what works in Cottesloe needs to be different in Fremantle and in Nedlands. The Nedlands venue has a cosy Melbourne-laneway feel."
Not surprisingly, the name Six Clicks West came about because the new venue is situated six kilometres west of the city centre.
Opened about six months ago, it is a small 45 seater and has an alfresco area on the street, which is equipped with a big heater for the cold winter mornings.
So far, the Hampden Road location has been a success, with the new venture's biggest competitor being the nearby Dome.
"We have a little funky cafe with quick service, great coffee, and basically get all the business people around here to be able to come in and form relationships with them and know their coffees," Six Click West manager Anna Davey told Gusto.
"Most of the people come in every day, even twice a day.
''We also get quite a lot of business from tourists and from unis as well because we have a lot of cheap options for students.
"It's an alternative to Dome; we're trying to go a bit cheaper but stronger. Our coffee's got a great bite to it, it's Essenza; not many people use it, but everyone loves it."
Van's, Aubergine and Six Clicks are all part of Mr Cooney's Blueshore Group, but each was given a unique identity through the designs and furniture used, and what's on offer.
However, Mr Cooney says the design of a hospitality venue is not as important as it was 10 years ago because customers are better educated about what they are eating and drinking.
"I don't think people care as much anymore [about design]; it's important that it is comfortable and clean and contemporary, but I think people value their dollar, they want a great meal and a great coffee," he says.
"The mentalities are changing. I love some of the places that are opening up.
"Alex [Cuccovia] at Cantina 668 used to be my coffee maker at the Globe and I think he's running one the sharpest places in town."
Mr Cooney believes there has been a steady improvement in the number of quality places to eat out in Perth.
"Someone like me has to keep up with that because it's definitely moving forward. People like Alex are really taking it to another level, Bouchard is another one, small, local, high quality, owner operated which has got some real character to it, I'm very positive about it," he says.
The Melbourne-born restaurateur moved to Perth in 1990 with the Matilda Bay Brewery Group, having worked there in Victoria.
He managed the first Dome Coffee venue, and he set up the Globe cafe on Beaufort Street with Gary Gosatti, which was sold and relocated across the road from its previous premises.
