Part Time Lover’s new venue promises a vision of the future at Forestville
The co-owners of Part Time Lover, Just Down The Road and Sofia’s new daytime diner is built on the best bits of their venues that make you feel like you’re in another time and place.
Inside a former mechanic’s garage, nestled behind the Keswick Army Barracks on Anzac Highway, a vision of Forestville’s future is taking shape.
The visionaries are talking to CityMag, seated on newly poured concrete benches in the atrium at the front of the Forestville Demonstration Space, a new multi-purpose venue that will give Adelaide an idea of what’s about to be built across the road.
Across the road, the former Le Cornu site has been reduced to a suburban paddock where huge, yellow, and lumbering machines currently eat the dirt. They’re shaping the ground floor of a massive mixed-use development which will open sometime in 2027.
“One of the reasons we wanted to get involved with this project,” says Joshua Baker, “is because we wanted to work with people like Spero and Dans.”
Joshua is gesturing at the two men standing alongside him. Spero Chapley is the owner of Adelaide’s Finest Supermarkets at Frewville and Pasadena. Daniels Olsson is founder of EcoCaddy and Mâché co-working space and a CityMag 40 Under 40 alumnus.
Guaranteed flavour (and hammer) at POMPOMAfter opening Sofia earlier this year, Josh wasn’t sure he could turn around another venue so quickly. But after visiting the site and getting to know both Spero and Dans, it became “a no-brainer.”
“POMPOM is just one part of what’s going on here at The Demo,” says Joshua, affectionately abbreviating Forestville Demonstration Space’s name.
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POMPOM is an all-day diner, open from 7am until 3pm seven days a week serving coffee and a selection of pita pockets stuffed with Mediterranean flavours.
Designed by studio gram, the venue combines the texture of brick with the sheen of steel to create warmth while respecting the place’s history.
Light pours in through the sawtooth roof windows and plants in garden beds feel like they’ve been growing here for years rather than days. The whole space has a classical proportion and sensibility that speaks to the Greek influences behind the project.
“The concept behind POMPOM is to lean into how we do food and beverage and my brother’s cheekiness and the way he likes to run shops,” says Joshua referencing his brother Jacob who has built Just Down the Road into a thriving business on Greenhill Road.
“The vibe’s going to be right. We like to create a community amongst what we do. And music’s a massive part of what we do,” he finishes.
Dans hears Joshua say music and segues our meandering conversation over to the 90 square meter space he is curating on behalf of Adelaide’s Finest Supermarkets, which will feature live music and performance as well as cooking, baking, gardening and all kinds of tutorials. The aim of the space is to “demonstrate” what’s going to be happening across the road in a few years’ time.
“I think we don’t know exactly what our gallery space is going to do, and that’s got everyone more excited than anything,” says Dans to the group. The group nod with enthusiasm.
“Maybe it’s an intimate gig with a musician this month. Next month, maybe it’s an all-day gardening event where people can learn and connect.
“I can see someone throwing clay in the gallery while guests sit at POMPOM and enjoy a pocket and a glass of wine and watch the ceramicist, mesmerised by the flow and rhythm of someone making bowls, cups, and plates that they may well be eating off.”
What we can expect from the POMPOM menuSubscribe for updates
POMPOM and Forestville Demonstration Space will enliven the currently pretty drab neighbourhood.
“There’s nothing really F&B around here,” says Joshua. CityMag points out there’s a Hungry Jacks not 400 metres from where we stand. He laughs.
“We know we can do F&B, but how do we push that further with some of the stuff Dans and Spero have planned for this space? How do we take those elements of the Blue Zone lifestyle that Spero and Adelaide’s Finest are promoting and how do we embed that into the culture of what we do here?” he says.
“We’ll be collaborating with Adelaide’s Finest bakers and butchers and all of that.”
The Blue Zone refers to certain geographical locations across the globe where the locals live longer. The island of Ikaria, where Spero Chapley’s family hail from, is part of the Blue Zone.
CityMag asks Spero to sum up what the Blue Zone lifestyle means to him.
“Where it stems from is a love for people, humanity,” says Spero.
“That’s the essence of it for me. Blue Zone ultimately means, connection. Growing up or visiting Ikaria, where my family is from, it’s hard to describe.
“It’s a feeling. It’s not the house, the look of it, the state of it, but the people inside it that make you feel something. Feel welcome.
“That’s the essence of the Blue Zone for me and what we’re trying to create here…”
“Demonstrate,” Dans corrects Spero with a grin.
“Demonstrate here,” Spero smiles.
POMPOM opens November 18 inside Forestville Demonstration Space at 58 Maple Avenue, Forestville.