Hot Shott Main Beach owner Jenna Rolfe talks Tedder Avenue cafe expansion and overcoming pandemic ‘dark days’

The sun was still shining on the Gold Coast during the pandemic, but at its height, a Main Beach cafe owner was enduring some of the darkest days of her life. See how she turned it all around.

THE sun was still shining on the Gold Coast during the pandemic, but at its height, a Main Beach cafe owner was enduring some of the darkest days of her life.

From letting all her staff go in a matter of days to seeing a sharp downturn in trade, Hot Shott Cafe owner Jenna Rolfe was kicking off her “anxiety-filled” days with “morning beers”.

Hot Shott Cafe Owners Kellie and Jenna Rolfe toast the opening of the new extension to their successful Main Beach cafe.

At its worst, she copped a spray of verbal abuse from a man who entered the Tedder Avenue venue and berated her for following rules around vaccine mandates.

“He said I had no idea what it was like to live under the rules of the mandates and that it hadn’t impacted me at all, which it obviously had,” Ms Rolfe recalls.

Her saving grace was a band of loyal customers – 75 per cent of her clientele – who stuck by the venue.

Fast forward nearly a year and Hot Shott is hot stuff again.

The venue recently expanded for a second time, taking up the adjoining site of a former Indian restaurant.

It was dark days for the hospitality operators during the pandemic – but they are confident in what is to come.

There is now a dedicated takeaway counter and waiting area, second coffee machine and seating room for more than 50 extra diners.

She also managed to get most of her original staff back and has since more than doubled employee numbers – 36 in total.

On Sunday, the venue nearly totalled a record day for trade - with 1035 patrons served.

Ms Rolfe, who co-owns the venue with her wife and head chef Kellie, said the contrast in trade compared to the same time last year was “phenomenal”.

“We have a lot of confidence moving into the GC500 – the first real race in years – which we expect will attract record crowds and people in the area,” she said.

Ms Rolfe says the event is a “great trial run for the summer onslaught”.

“I say bring it on. The vibe is so good when we are busy,” she said.

“We are just so grateful to our regulars for supporting us during the pandemic. We had one regular come in when we were just doing takeaways and she said ‘I’m not hungry or thirsty but I want to buy a juice just to support you guys’. It was so lovely.”

Hot Shott Main Beach is open 7 days a week from 5:30am till 4pm.