news
New places to go, new businesses to try - springtime in Subiaco has seen a crop of venues opening their doors. WORDS | Gabi Mills
Wax lyrical
| By Marcia Ball
Bespoke Blends is a candle studio, shopfront to the online store and home of workshops and classes run by founder and candle aficionado, Jane Hough. Concerned about the toxic ingredients found in many candles, Jane decided to learn to make her own, using natural ingredients and vintage pieces inherited from her grandmother. Creating a range of unique scents using only natural soy wax and pure essential oils, Bespoke Blends now offers an extensive range to like-minded candle-lovers all around Australia. With a background in biochemistry, it’s no wonder Jane is such a natural when it comes to candle-making. Her training has been an asset to the business, not only in perfecting the art but also in enabling her students to navigate their way around hot wax and essential oil ratios effortlessly, with a gin or champagne glass in hand. The business has grown since moving from home office to the studio space in Subiaco which you’ll find above Brew-Ha Café off Rokeby Road. Once upstairs, there's the most stunning outdoor terrace, complete 4
SUBIACO: EAT DRINK SHOP
Hang’s Espresso makes a splash
with elegant pot plants and furniture donated by locals who regularly visit and enjoy the aromas wafting around the space. Here Jane creates her signature scented aromatherapy candles and runs regular candle-making classes and workshops. She also offers bespoke commissions, develops exclusive ranges for wholesale and corporate gifts, and runs a candle refill service. Customers are encouraged to bring in their own containers for Jane to fill, or “candalise” as she likes to call the process. Some of the more unusual containers she’s candlaised include a cricket trophy from the 1950s, an entire silver-plated antique tea set and quite a few ceramic cows, hand painted just down the road at The Painted Teapot. Look no further for your hen’s day activity - or just a lovely afternoon with friends, old and new. Bespoke Blends 162 Rokeby Road (above BrewHa), open most Saturdays or by appointment. Orders can also be made online at bespokeblends.com.au.
THE OWNERS OF popular coffee hotspot Spring Espresso have rung the changes with a new name - Hang’s Espresso - named after co-owner Hang. Alongside husband Jeff, who’s day job in the FIFO sector sees him lending a helping hand over the weekend, Hang says the pair have put a lot of themselves into the $20k refit of this ever-busy spot. “We met in Melbourne three years ago, got engaged in the cafe and then got married in May,” says Hang, who is originally from Vietnam. “I know all of our regular customers by name - people like Channel 7’s Adrian Barich is a regular with his pugs, and even the Premier Mark McGowan has dropped by.” Regulars have embraced Hang and Jeff’s new approach to serving their favourite cup of coffee and maybe a dumpling or two, with the shiny red espresso machine providing an eye-catching centrepiece to the new-look venue. “Consistency is key and Hang is consistently great at brewing coffee,” says Jeff. “The bright red Porsche theme is underlined also by the image of a horse - an important symbol in Vietnam.” Hang’s Espresso, 24/184 Rokeby Road, Subiaco. Open seven days.
