A chef for 16 years, chef James Gross recently realised his dream of opening a café. Trail 518 in Pomona puts the small Noosa Hinterland town squarely on the foodie map with its first modern style café.
“We had a dream of creating something that was uniquely Pomona. We employ local people, buy local produce and make most of our food in-house”, says James.
James found the perfect location for his new venture – a tea house / florist shop in the centre of town. He planned to open 12 weeks later, so he needed his cafe design and fitout process to run smoothly,
“We wanted everything to go right so we looked for a company that specialised in café fitouts and design.
“Hiller was able to look after everything for us, from the overall design concept to the management of our fitout, right down to the supply of small wares.”
James says that the best thing about working with Hiller was the depth of their experience in café design,
“We only had a fairly rough idea of what we wanted to create, but Hiller got where we were coming from really quickly. They guided us in our decision making by asking questions and offering suggestions so we had ownership of the process the whole way.
“And they were super responsive whenever we had questions or concerns.”
James also appreciated that the café fitout was managed systematically and carefully,
“We knew exactly what was happening when, and the works were staged so we could bring the council in for approvals at the right moment.”
When asked about his café equipment and supplies, James says that Hiller made great recommendations,
“We’ve had no issues – it all fits together nicely and the preparation spaces flow well.”
Now firmly established, Trail 518 has a steady flow of customers and is about to extend its opening hours to seven days a week.