New cafe born out of COVID

The Rogue Squirrrl Cafe. Pic of owner Peshala Liyanagamage. Photo by Damjan Janevski. 231030_01

Tara Murray

A Caroline Springs couple who had to shut their cafe in the city due to COVID-19 are back in business as co-owners of a new cafe at the Bunnett Business Park.

Peshala and Nison Liyanagamage have joined forces with co-owner Ange Marinakis to open the The Rogue Squirrel Cafe.

The Sunshine North cafe opened last week.

Mr Marinakis said the cafe was meant to open in October but was put off until last week due to lockdown.

“When we started the concept last year it was during COVID,” he said.

“We don’t do what everyone else is doing, so we looked at opening a cafe.”

Mr Marinakis said that the Liyanagamages were on JobKeeper until they decided to get involved in the new venture. They had run a cafe at Victoria University in the CBD, which closed due to a lack of international students and foot traffic.

Other locals have been employed at the business as well.

Mr Marinakis said the cafe provided high quality food that you wouldn’t expect to find in a business park.

“We are purely driven by quality,” he said. “We offer a point of difference in the area with high quality products.”

The company will look to host functions, high teas and other events.

Tara Murray