Redcliffe’s popular cafe Flock Eatery shuts its doors

A popular waterfront cafe north of Brisbane, known for its sustainable approach, has ghosted loyal customers by leaving them in the dark and disappearing without a trace.

A popular waterfront business has shut up shop, ghosting customers.

Redcliffe Peninsula’s Flock Eatery has disappeared since opening in 2017 and left locals fishing for answers.

The business’s social media presence has been wiped, the email account listed on the website bounces back, the phone number listed on the website goes nowhere.

The doors have been closed for more than a month with no note or indication about why.

The local Chamber of Commerce and surrounding businesses don’t know what’s happened, and the cafe’s loyal customers have been left in the dark.

The cafe, which used to be owned and run by Geoff Abel and his wife Lexie Abel, had a goal of bringing a personal ethos – minimising carbon footprint with more sustainable practices.

Flock Eatery Redcliffe's Geoff Abel. Photo: Dominika Lis

Mr Abel came from a background in fine dining, and has previously said he was passionate about creative food while minimising waste.

“We specialise in a farm-to-plate dining experience offering fresh, seasonal and local produce from the Moreton Bay Region,’’ Mrs Abel he said at the time.

Mrs Abel confirmed this week that the couple sold the popular cafe more than a year ago.

She said this was the first she’d heard of the business mysteriously closing.

“We sold the business about 18 months ago,” Mrs Abel said.

“Very strange indeed. Feeling a bit sad about it too, feels like we’ve sold and said goodbye to it all over again.”

A dish on the menu at Redcliffe’s Flock Eatery. Photo: Dominika Lis.

This year Quest Newspapers reported on how Loop Growers was devastatingly washed away in the February 2022 flooding who has been stockist at the cafe.

However, as of May 2022, Flock Eatery was not listed on the Loop Growers website as a venue that currently works with them.

Chef Geoff Abel and his wife Lexie took out Moreton Bay Business of the Year with their cafe Flock Eatery back in 2018. Photo – Quest.

The sudden closure of the cafe has had tongues wagging in the area.

“Hi do we know why the Flock Eatery on Redcliffe Parade has been closed for a week or so?” One post read on social media.

“Their Facebook and Instagram pages have been taken down. The website is still taking bookings though. Weird. If you try to call, it eventually asks you to leave a message.”

“Pretty sure they have gone,” another local added.

“Sad seeing another place close,” someone else agreed.

A spokesman for the Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce said he had been hoping to eat there himself recently, when he noticed it wasn’t open.

“I don’t know anything about it or what happened,” he said.

Employees from four neighbouring businesses also confirmed the cafe had been very quiet.

An employee from Orange Sherbert said it was a sudden closure.

“The girls here miss their morning coffee, and they’ve had to go somewhere else for their fix now,” they said.

Redcliffe Penisula’s Flock Eatery has disappeared since opening in 2017 and left locals fishing for answers. Photo – Madeline Grace.

“Yeah it was very sudden, we haven’t seen customers there for around four or five weeks.”

An employee at Little Lamb said they hadn’t heard anything.

“Yeah we haven’t seen them for weeks, I think they are closed,” they said.

An employee at the Rustic Olive said the closure was a mystery.

“Nobody knows what’s happened,” they said.

And an employee from another neighbouring business said it really was a mystery.

“We’ve said hello here and there over the past year but not much more than that,” she said about the newest owners.

“Nobody knows what happened. They’re very private and never said anything about a closure … hopefully they’re okay.

“They’ve probably been closed for close to six weeks now.”

The Flock Eatery website is still live, however the cafe’s Instagram and Facebook accounts have since been deleted.