The owner of popular Inner West cafe Ashfield Apothecary this week opened Maia, a Melbourne-inspired micro-cafe in Lewisham specialising in house-roasted coffee and hearty sandwiches.

It is the second hospitality venture from Mandeep Bhusal, who developed a strong following in Ashfield for his thoughtful range of specialty coffee, featuring local independent roasters and small-scale international growers.

Bhusal chose the new location carefully, uncovering a “hidden gem” in a historically underserved area, just a short walk from Lewisham station. Since opening on Sunday he’s been welcomed by locals, who have missed their caffeine fix since Trainspotting Cafe closed around two years ago.

The “run down” building took several months to renovate, and now features a warm, mid-century aesthetic with bar seating inside (five seats overlooking the kitchen, four overlooking the street) and dog-friendly seating on the footpath outside.

“The building didn’t have the same character as Ashfield, so the hardest part was creating that same ambience,” says Bhusal, who worked with wife Gulshen on the design.

“We wanted to give it a Melbourne look, something laid back and a little bit quaint, something different.”

At Maia, Bhusal serves and sells his own seasonal milk coffee blend for the first time, under the Ashfield Apothecary brand name. It’s the culmination of more than seven years of work as a barista, and showcases “sweet, juicy and bright” coffee beans sourced from high-altitude, sustainable farms.

“Coffee has always been my passion, it’s something that keeps me going,” Bhusal says.

“But I’m not trying to serve coffee to judges, I want to make a good cup of coffee that everyone can enjoy.”

As the range grows, Bhusal hopes Maia will become a flagship store for Ashfield Apothecary coffee.

Fellow microroasters The New Paradigm and This is Arlo will also appear on the menu, alongside a selection of pastries and sandwiches using meat from Whole Beast Butchery (Marrickville) and bread from The Bread and Butter Project (Australia’s first social enterprise bakery, employing refugees and asylum seekers in Marrickville).

The opening menu features a smoked chicken sandwich (inspired by banh-mi), a pastrami sandwich loaded with sauerkraut and swiss cheese, and their specialty: the croque monsieur with a house-made secret sauce.

There are plans to expand the food offering over the coming weeks.

Open Mon-Fri 7am-2pm; Sat-Sun 8am-2pm.

3 Victoria Street, Lewisham; instagram.com/maia_speciality/