With a delicious, made-from-scratch menu & clean Scandinavian aesthetic, it’s easy to see how Freja’s has become a local favourite in just 3 short months.
Located just a few minutes north of Brisbane CBD in leafy Wilston, the area is dotted with traditional Queenslander homes and has become a favourite with young families.
Owners Freja and Nathan have worked hard to bring their new business to life – 4am starts and 16 hours days are all part of the fun of opening a new business. However hospitality wasn’t always a part of the plan.
Born in Denmark, Freja left home at 15 to pursue a career playing on the Tennis circuit in the USA. After 6 years, Freja left Tennis behind and moved to Australia, where she started to pursue a new passion “I had a love and passion for hospitality” says Freja “I quit [tennis] about two years ago and started working with coffee, then I started doing a pastry chef’s degree, which I really enjoyed”
Nathan found his love for food while studying business “I was doing my bachelor of business, and I was needing some part-time work so I found a job in a hotel. Really enjoyed it, enjoyed it too much” says Nathan. With both a business degree and chef’s apprenticeship under his belt, Nathan quickly found his place in fine dining, first at Bar Alto & then Stokehouse Q in Brisbane.
After working in hospitality for a few years, Freja & Nathan decided it was time to take matters into their own hands, Nathan explains “The hospitality industry is a pretty demanding industry. It’s a lot of hours. A lot of work. If we’re going to do all the extra hours, why don’t we just do it for each other and do it at our own place”.
And so, the planning for Freja’s began.
Design
While the shop looks like it was crafted by a designer, people are surprised to find that fitout was mostly made with their own two hands – and the help of Nathan’s dad. “Freja and I sat down and planned it all out. Then my father and I…actually mainly my father; built everything from scratch. The benches, the table tops & the chairs outside.” Nathan explains
The result is a beautiful space, with clean lines and a light, airy feel that underscores the quality of the food & coffee they serve.
Menu
The focus at Frejas is local ingredients, made from scratch. Freja explains “we support local resources, ingredients. Everything’s made from scratch, made by Nathan & myself, and what we can’t make, we source from the best places.”
It’s an approach that pays off, the food here is fresh and delicious. I tried the beef cheek croissant with fried egg, green tomato & lime aioli. The beef was tender and packed with flavour, with a nice zest from the green tomato.
I also tried the corn fritters, which had some nice sweetness & a light, fluffy texture that paired beautifully with the locally-sourced poached eggs.
The notable exception to the made in-house rule is the croissants, which are flown in from France (not kidding). Well, if you’re going to break a rule, it might as well be with French croissants…
Coffee
The local focus continues with coffee.
The team at Frejas are running two house blends: Cultivar & Cat’s Pyjamas, both roasted at our micro-roastery just down the road in Newstead. The flat white I tasted was delicious – with distinct notes of dark chocolate & caramel followed by a hint of sweet spice.
For coffee equipment, it’s quality all the way, with a La Marzocco Strada AV ABR (i.e. the model with the scales built-in to the drip tray – sweet…), a Mythos One Grinder and Mahlkonig EK43 Grinder – all with a matching custom white finish.
All the work that goes into a business like this can only come from someone who loves what they do. That passion and focus is easy to see at Freja’s – Nathan sums it up like this:”At the end of the day, I want the best product and I want to support the community as much as they support me.”
Freja’s
Shop 3/1 Macgregor Street
Wilston, QLD
Tue-Sun 6am-3pm
