Cafe da Fiore aka Homans

NarkyBoots

Is closed down after this weekend.

So sad I'll really miss it.

Charlie-Bravo

Really? How do you know?

NarkyBoots

Staff told me. I hope I didn't misunderstand that today was the last day but they were all upset about it.

Charlie-Bravo

well, that's a shame...I can't say I frequented the place though

d'Oracle

Where is this??

hobnob101

I was very upset about the closure. Today was the last day.

We moved into Charlesland before it was open. We had a new baby and had moved from the city center. My wife went into Holles St from our old home and came out to the building site that was Charlesland.

We had not spent a lot of time in the area beforehand and felt very isolated.
When Cafe da Fiore opened it filled a big hole. All of a sudden there was somewhere you could walk the pram and escape from the four walls of home for a while.... and get a decent coffee!

Cafe da Fiore had become an integral part of our lives. We were daily customers and will sorely miss the staff. More importantly I have no idea where to get a good coffee in the morning (Homans just isn't as good) and Superquinn... well.

I can only presume that the outrageous rents that the developers are charging (based on earlier forum discussions about the pub - or lack thereof) have a large part in this.

For all the new mothers in Charlesland that used Cafe da Fiore as respite from the sudden loss of normal life it will be an awful blow. To have to drive to the nearest coffee shop is real inconvenience.

For those of us that have tasted Keiths scrambled eggs (beyond compare), or reveled in the fact that a full breakfast meant that you would indeed be full (a rarity in my experience prior to Cafe da Fiore), it is a sad day. I will miss the Chicken sandwich, the hot chocolate, the crumble and the BLT.

More than this I will miss the sense of community that existed there and the ever friendly staff.

I am angry. I can only assume that rental greed has been responsible for pulling away an integral part of the heart of the Charlesland community. The cafe was always reasonably busy when I was there.

Charlesland needs a Cafe. There are too many people here not to have one.

tiptap

that's real shame, have to go poxy insomnia or somewhere now and pay for parking ..grrrrrrr...that place was class, especially on a nice day where you could sit outside ... wonder what will take its place !!

hobnob101

wonder what will take its place

Judging from the empty units that are already free (Dry cleaners, Medical Center, offices, Pub) I would think that nothing will take its place.

Rents must be silly money. It seems to be a pattern repeated throughout the country. I saw a piece on some tv program about Letterkenny, where half the main shopping center was empty. The rents were too high but the leases all had clauses in them where rents could only go up, not down.

Celtic tiger greed forced rents up. Then with the onset of the recession rents stayed up while retail profits slumped.

It doesn't make business sense to me (surely some rent coming in is better than no rent at all). It probably comes down to statistics. Commercial letters can say "Rent prices have not been affected by the recession", without explaining that half their properties are empty.

Chartbusters is gone, Greystones Travel is gone, Cottonwood is up for let on daft but still trading.

ADK

That's a shame. Have to say I only went there occasionally but my mother used to love going there when she was minding my kids as she doesn't drive and would walk them over there for a treat and to get out of the house. She will definitely miss it.

tiptap

hobnob101 wrote: »

Judging from the empty units that are already free (Dry cleaners, Medical Center, offices, Pub) I would think that nothing will take its place.

Rents must be silly money. It seems to be a pattern repeated throughout the country. I saw a piece on some tv program about Letterkenny, where half the main shopping center was empty. The rents were too high but the leases all had clauses in them where rents could only go up, not down.

Celtic tiger greed forced rents up. Then with the onset of the recession rents stayed up while retail profits slumped.

It doesn't make business sense to me (surely some rent coming in is better than no rent at all). It probably comes down to statistics. Commercial letters can say "Rent prices have not been affected by the recession", without explaining that half their properties are empty.

Chartbusters is gone, Greystones Travel is gone, Cottonwood is up for let on daft but still trading.

yup...some rent is better than none IMO.
It's just getting worst and worst which is the scary thing !

DK32

Gutted, I will miss my daily Latte and Keith & his staff of course.

Rasmus

That totally sucks. Only last week we discovered it, and I was glad that there was going to be a nice cafe to visit in the neighborhood. We're moving to Charlesland soon, and it's unfortunate that it's doubtful that anything will take it's place, seeing as it's such a large space. It was a nice spot. Seeing as Charlesland is quite densely populated, maybe one of the larger chains will move in at some point, like Insomnia, O'Briens or something similar. I don't see that pub taking off at all.

Merrilady

Hey All,

Am just back from a few weeks away ( and time away from the computer )
I cant belive it !!
Such a shame, great coffee and a nice place for all around.
We used to walk down from Eden Gate with the dog, stop for a coffee and head to the beach ... sometimes it was so nice there we didnt mae it to Greystones.
Terrible state of affairs

JAYG

I thought the place was OK. Had breakfast there every now and again but got bored of the limited menu, which never changed from the day it opened, and it was quite over priced.

I for one have been looking forward to a pub opening in Charlesland for the last 3 - 4 years and think it will do very well, specially now if they do good food (although not if the same chef as Woodlands, which was very nice until a couple of weeks after opening then just went down hill after that). Maybe the cafe da Fiore could re-open from within the pub and sevre the food there. With a bigger better menu of course.

Charlie-Bravo

I saw someone in the unit today, perhaps someone looking at opening a new cafe?

MyPerfectCousin

astrofluff wrote: »

I saw someone in the unit today, perhaps someone looking at opening a new cafe?

Yes, I heard (from the estate agent) it has been leased.

stanley1980

As had been alluded to in the previous posts, surely there'd be plenty of custom for a café in Charlesland? It'd be great to get some of those units filled- it'd give the estate a focal point.

Cheeky Chops

ooh I'm not banned anymore!

Yes people in there this afternoon. Great news if it is a cafe.

lakeroad

Homans from the Main Street where supposedly looking at it. Hopefully somebody takes it soon.

Don't Chute!

I hope its mcdonalds.

Cheeky Chops

black and amber wrote: »

I hope its mcdonalds.

That's just too funny!

Don't Chute!

Cheeky Chops wrote: »

That's just too funny!

Thanks!!

pixbyjohn

Cafe Mc Donalds by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Kinikie

I looked at this place towards end of summer last year, they were asking 45k per year in lease terms. Was just too much and couldnt get financials into a place i was comfortable with

Thats alot of coffee and criosants!

Hopefully they have seen sense and dramtically reduced the ask to improve occupancy of the empty units

Charlie-Bravo

@pixbyjohn: I thought you didn't do photoshop?

Jimjay

astrofluff wrote: »

@pixbyjohn: I thought you didn't do photoshop?

Lol, i think the picture proves he doesn't ;-)

pixbyjohn

Jimjay wrote: »

Lol, i think the picture proves he doesn't ;-)

Spot on James

Serrano13

Heard yesterday that this coffee shop is going to be run by the people who own Homans. Hope they can make a good go of it.

ciaran67

astrofluff wrote: »

@pixbyjohn: I thought you didn't do photoshop?

He doesnt

happyhappy

Plastering and painting going on inside caffe di fiore today. Looks like we are going to have a coffee shop again! Woo hoo!!

Annasopra

happyhappy wrote: »

Plastering and painting going on inside caffe di fiore today. Looks like we are going to have a coffee shop again! Woo hoo!!

Homans owners are opening there

happyhappy

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Homans owners are opening there

Good to see. Any idea when??

Annasopra

happyhappy wrote: »

Good to see. Any idea when??

No

bennetts

I spoke to a guy in Homan's on Wednesday and he said they are opening for breakfast and lunch in September and dining and a wine bar sometime after that.

Charlie-Bravo

Looking forward to this. For me, the test will be the quality of brekkie versus price.

bennetts

Agree - I used to like a breakfast at Cafe Da Fiore although I can't remember whether it was good value or not. I'm looking forward to strolling over the road for a glass of wine now and then when the wine bar aspect is open - there isn't one pub or bar in Greystones that I enjoy going to. Perhaps this could be the start of a wave of licensed premises opening to compete with all the coffee houses...

Langerland

The BOOM is back!!

bobwilliams

astrofluff wrote: »

Looking forward to this. For me, the test will be the quality of brekkie versus price.

yes me too,love a full Irish,3Q's is nice but a bit steep for some.
Best I've had in the last while although it's a bit of a drive is the restaurant up at Djouce Golf club,not cheap btw but defo worth a trip and then up to the woods for a walk off.

Chocolate fiend

Homan's coffee was never that good though, hope they have better coffee up here than down the village.

caji

Any update on an opening date?

neets

Rumour has it Homan's opening today...some fantastic smells whafting out the door yesterday evening. Could have sworn it was chocolate cake!

Charlie-Bravo

Yep, the chalk board had written 'opening Tuesday'. Will check out pricing for a). an americano, and b). a full Irish breakfast.

Eponymous

Was in earlier. Not sure about coffee prices, but €5 for a "Big" sausage roll was a bit steep, particularly when it wasn't particularly big (but it was definitely tasty!).

Breakfast is €12 but according to the menu it's huge. Stumbling point though is €3 for additional sausage, bacon or egg. :eek:

Great selection of pastries and cakes. Wifey had Carrot Cake and loved it. Huge slice served.

Obviously being the first day, there are a few kinks to be ironed out, but I'm delighted for Julie, she's taken a punt on Charlesland and she deserves support for that. If she takes on board feedback on pricing, she will be a big hit.

HappyDaze007

€12 for a fry...?!? Seriously..!

Thanks but no thanks...

FirstIn

HappyDaze007 wrote: »

€12 for a fry...?!? Seriously..!

Thanks but no thanks...

Does that include coffee/tea? If so it's ok. If not it's steep no matter how good it is.

If they price it as per Main Street Greystones they're in bother.

Techy_1

Today myself and my wife had breakfast there and it was amazing the pudding was so soft it fell off the fork, the eggs were organic everything about it was just amazing.

In terms of price the breakfast pictured below was €12 which included tea / coffee.

Will definitely go again

FirstIn

Not bad. Lose the weeds, extra egg for me and some HP sauce. Yum.

Hope it works out for them. Best wishes

Cerco

Techy_1 wrote: »

Today myself and my wife had breakfast there and it was amazing the pudding was so soft it fell off the fork, the eggs were organic everything about it was just amazing.

In terms of price the breakfast pictured below was €12 which included tea / coffee.

Will definitely go again

Sure sign the recession is fading when they can get away with charging €12 for that. Unless it was for two which would represent good value.

Honestly!

Techy_1 wrote: »

Today myself and my wife had breakfast there and it was amazing the pudding was so soft it fell off the fork, the eggs were organic everything about it was just amazing.

In terms of price the breakfast pictured below was €12 which included tea / coffee.

Will definitely go again

Who has €12 to spend on a breakfast? And, not a very big one!

birdwatcher

€12 is a shocking price for a breakfast that size!:eek:

...and did i see someone say €5 for a sausage roll??
SERIOUSLY?

Delighted to see the Cafe open again, but unfortunately I won't be spending a cent in there if these prices are correct.

Cheeky Chops

Breakfast in the Elephant and Castle in Temple Bar (the tourist centre of a capital city) is around a tenner!

12 euro is nuts but even more so when it is a cafe in a retail unit by a supermarket and housing estate. It's actually embarrassing.

What a disappointment.