From coffee cart to cafe – Liquid Things springs to life at The Corner in Palm Beach
Dean Hyland is no stranger to Palm Beach. Keeping locals well caffeinated since 2009, when he co-founded Barefoot Barista, Dean has witnessed the suburb’s incredible evolution first-hand from behind various coffee machines. This time around, he’s partnered with Cleve Robinson to create Liquid Things, which resides on the high-profile site on the corner of 15th Avenue and the Gold Coast Highway in Palm Beach. The new caffeination station aims to bring a bit of the ‘old Palm Beach’ back to the booming beachside suburb.
With a scattering of milk crates acting as chairs (alongside a handful of actual chairs), a succinct menu scrawled on a blackboard and a cabinet filled with sandwiches and bagels, Liquid Things in Palm Beach is refreshingly uncomplicated. What began as a coffee cart at the side of the former surfboard shop has grown into something so much more, with owners Dean and Cleve going against the grain of Palm Beach’s current trajectory to keep things simple and community-centric.
“We wanted a place you can sit on a box and eat out of a box,” Dean says. The plan, he tells us, was to create a kind of community precinct where you can strike up a conversation with the person on the milk crate next to you. A nod to the Palm Beach long-time locals remember from days past, Liquid Things is all about good service, good coffee, which is sorted thanks to fine folk at Social Espresso, and good food. Ticking that box is a drool-inducing selection of baguettes and bagels that are created and cooked by a restaurant and prepped onsite with pickles, dukkah and condiments. The meatball bagel with pickles has been a crowd favourite so far. Rounding out the offering is sourdough from Pixel Bakehouse alongside treats from Well Bread & Pastry and Fuel Bakehouse.
Beyond coffee, Dean and Cleve have big plans for the site, which is unofficially named The Corner, with the vision of activating the entire area as a kind of community hub. Next door to Liquid Things, you’ll find a retail collective from three Miami Marketta regulars including Love St Label, Town Folk and Suede Daze curating a eclectic mix of homewares, gifts and apparel for grown-ups and littles. Down the far end you’ll spy The Golden Goods by Twahn McMahon, who you might recognise from the suburb’s much-loved (and missed) Small Stall. From Thursday through to Sunday, Pitstop Corner pops up in the old coffee cart, dishing up mouth-watering burgers, tacos and good vibes from 5:00–9:00 pm.
Head to our Stumble Guide for opening times.
The Stumble Guide is our comprehensive Gold Coast dining guide with more than 870 places to eat, drink, shop and play.