Wildflour’s new soft serve is certainly Insta-worthy. Photo: Supplied.
When you think of long summer nights with an ice cream in hand and a stunning Canberra sunset in the background, the industrial suburb of Fyswick doesn’t come to mind.
But Fyshwick’s Wildflour Cafe is setting out to change that, and they have a new range of soft serve ice creams to help twist your arm.
The soft serve ice creams and açaí have popped up on Instagram in recent weeks, and I don’t think that Canberra will need too much convincing for this one.
Squeezed into a pastry shell much like a croissant, the four flavours – French vanilla, Belgian chocolate, Biscoff cream and Amazon açai – are certainly showstoppers.
Wildflour in Fyswick is taking a gamble on after-hours service. Photo: Supplied.
Managing director Trent Vrtanes Esmerian admits that, as a cafe, operating nighttime hours in a suburb like Fyswick is a little unusual, but feels Canberra is ready for it.
“Canberra’s nightlife scene has gotten some criticism over the years for being boring and not having much available, and compared to some other cities, there is definitely some truth to that. But I feel that in the last period, some shops have been a bit more daring in pushing the norm of what is currently seen as typical cafe trading hours.
“Sometimes it’s good to experiment,” says Trent.
Trent and the Wildflour team have put a fair bit of thought into the extended hours. They feel there is a place for more casual hangouts and would like to think they might even attract the car meet crowd.
“Some places like Via Dolce or San Churro definitely get decent crowds at nighttime, even for coffee. Granted, they are in town centres, but Canberrans seem to be happy to travel if the product and offering are what they’re after.”
In addition to the ice cream, Wildflour will be putting on their pastries and coffee. Photo: Supplied.
Trent’s gut feeling isn’t entirely without basis either. I have watched an early-evening crowd build for an Acai Xtreme, a food truck parked out the front of Tattoo Extreme on Newcastle Street. On some nights, it looks like a queue for a nightclub.
The crowds gathered here waiting to grab an oversized swirl are often dressed in gym gear and are clearly looking for after-hours activities that don’t involve the usual go-to of alcohol.
Trent says it’s not all about the soft serve, though, and will be running their usual daytime coffee menu alongside their handcrafted pastries and non-alcoholic drinks.
He doesn’t sound entirely sure that the experiment will pay off, but he’s keen to see if the after-hours service is something Canberra is interested in and wraps up our chat with a jovial, “Wish us luck, ha ha!”
Wildflour Fyshwick is located at 8 Townsville Street. Their new extended hours operate Thursday to Sunday, 5:30 pm until 9 pm.
