Coffee Down Under

Tarun Kajeepeta, owner of Coffee Down Under, 607 Shelby Street, Detroit, hopes to bring some “really good coffee” to the city’s Financial District this spring. “I thought the Financial District was a perfect location for it, where you have a lot of offices, a lot of foot traffic during the day, and there’s not a lot of great coffee options in that area,” he said. Like the cheeky name suggests, there will be Australian cafe influences felt in the space and in the beverages, like the Flat White, Magic, and Long Black, all offered on the largely espresso-based menu. Kajeepeta, who lived in Australia in 2014, said the food offerings haven’t been finalized yet but they’re thinking about rotating items, including pastries and breakfast burritos. Inside the historic space, once the ground floor of a bank, there’s a monochrome design, and plans for a concept that would take place behind the coffee bar. Kajeepeta wasn’t ready to go in to details about that yet, but did mention an old bank vault in the space. Keep your eyes open, mate, for something special there. ­Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro Intelligencer is reported/created each month by Dana Casadei who can be reached at DanaCasadei@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record.