The opening of Sunset Hill, which provides 180-degree ocean views, coincided with two beachfront cafes opening their doors: Kinky Swell at the northern end and cafe and photo gallery Seaburbia near the amphitheatre.
The pop-up venues are part of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority’s (MRA) plan to revitalise the area over the summer months while work is ongoing.
Photographer Daniel De Giosa said he put in an expression of interest to the MRA for a pop-up venue two years ago and opened the doors at Seaburbia on Thursday .
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READ NOW“I run a photography business. I live just up the road and I do surf photography and landscapes; I’m a local surfer, so that is where my interest lies,” he said.
“Most of my youth was spent surfing in Scarborough and this is my first time as a venue owner.
“Seaburbia is a photo gallery and cafe combined; it just blends together really well.”
With only a six-month lease for the small demountable building at the amphitheatre, Mr De Giosa said he hoped the venue could be a part of the long-term plan.
“It’s been going so well; every day the business seems to be doubling and it’s only week one,” he said.
“The redevelopment is a bit of short-term pain for long-term gain but I think the area really needs it.
“I have a six-month lease officially, that’s all I’ll say for now, but there’s hope if everything runs well to move into the |permanent spots once the development is finished.”
Kinky Surf cafe co-owner Jess Phan said her family were no strangers to the hospitality industry.
“My brother Tai and I own the Kinky Swell cafe on Brighton Road and the Surfing Lizard cafe and others,” she said.
“We are pop-up here at the moment but in two years when the surf club building is built, we will be moving in there.
“By then we will know all the regulars.”
More, page 3