Sandy Bay cafe Sisterhood forced to close indefinitely due to water damage in same week it is nominated for national gong

In the same week it was nominated for a national best-cafe award, Sandy Bay eatery Sisterhood has been forced to close indefinitely.

Head Chef Josh Mathewson and Sous Chef Kiri Booth. Sisterhood cafe in Sandy Bay has been badly damaged by water and will have to close. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

IN the same week it was nominated for a national best cafe award, Sandy Bay eatery Sisterhoodhas been forced to close indefinitely following a damaging water leak.

Just weeks after opening, the King St cafe has been forced to shut up shop after the revelation an uncapped drain under its floor had been spilling water there since before the business opened.

The eatery had quickly shot to popularity on the Hobart food scene, with customer lines seen trailing out the door during weekend trade at the former Dome cafe site.

SISTERHOOD BRUNCHES ABOVE ITS WEIGHT

Sisterhood alerted customers to the shop’s closure via social media on Monday, saying “unfortunately we had a floor drain left uncapped during construction and it’s been flooding under the floors for the past six weeks”.

Cafe owner Yasmin Chung said the 140-seat shop would require a “complete do-over” to repair the damage caused to floors, benchtops, walls and other infrastructure.

Owner of the Sisterhood Cafe in Sandy Bay, Yasmin Chung. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

She said she was first alerted to the problem when cracks appeared in the tiles.

“There was cracking in tiles and the floors started to rise up. Then our main marble bench top started to move,” she said.

“It’s obviously really disappointing. We’ve had really successful trade and been very busy since opening.

“It’s been such a long process, with the idea to open the shop in its inception since December. We’re very disappointed.”

Ms Chung said it could be two to three months until the cafe reopens.

“We really don’t know at this point. It’s in the assessment stage at the moment and we’re working through insurance details. But we’ll be back, bigger and better.”

Ms Chung said the business would try to re-fit with a similar layout, but there may be a few menu tweaks.

She said she was most disappointed for her 18 staff, 10 of whom are casual, because they would miss out on work.

Sisterhood was short-listed in the 2019 Eat Drink Design Awards under the Best Cafe category.