“If you believe in something so much, you will never go wrong.”

Hidden on a corner in the b-streets of Mortdale is ST. KAI. This Japanese-inspired café and coffee house run by siblings, Lachy and Lexy Allouche, is a place for Mortdalers, misfits and manga fans to call home.

The passion and attention to detail behind ST. KAI’s brand is clear in everything from the specialty coffee and ramen to the Japanese art deco and arcade games. However, it has taken years of hard work, creativity and perseverance to build a brand that customers can resonate with.

Trust The Process

Lachy and Lexy never intended to start a café in their own backyard.

“We planned to attack the inner west or eastern suburbs,” Lachy explains. “We knew we would have a good chance with that type of market because what we do is very much against the grain.”

Signing the lease for a quaint corner shop in Mortdale was a risk but the pair were excited for the challenge of creating an identity that the locals could adapt to or understand.

“What we were doing was not really accepted or welcomed by people in the area,” Lachy explains. “People had predetermined ideas of what cafes should offer, how it should look and how service should be run.”

Lachy and Lexy stayed true to their concept and encourage other creatives to trust the process. Building the ST. KAI brand has taken time and is an overall accumulation of kitchen experiments, learning techniques from previous chefs and teaching themselves. Lachy says that it is only “this year that people are finally identifying us as a little ramen joint with specialty coffee,” and that the cafe will always be a work in progress.

“(We) are misfits and we’re always trying to find a place to fit in and it's just amazing to see people resonating with that,” he continues. “I never thought that would ever happen and you see people coming through the doors and they're not only enjoying it, they're appreciating it. That makes all the difference.”

Trust Your Team

Three years into the journey and Lachy is only now experiencing his first moments of pride in the café and community that he and Lexy have created.

“I want to show people it is possible, and you can create something unique and different and offer something to people that they can't get around this area.”

He highlights the importance of finding a team you can trust, along with mentors or partners that share your passions and inspire your creativity.

“Everyone's got different emotions, different creative aspects, and different beliefs in business…,” he explains. “Some people are more on the mathematical side about profiting and others are more about creativity. You need to learn to prioritise and appreciate both aspects as they coincide with each other.”

This is the reason Lachy and Lexy work so well as a team. They respect each other's beliefs in business, are willing to adapt and always have each other's backs.