Brisbane Icon Goes to NYC

The Dello Mano Luxury Brownie is now on sale in New York! Dello Mano has recently partnered up with Abbotsford Road Cofee Specialists, an Australian-owned cafe in the heart of Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood. The cafe is a 27,000-square-foot coffee roasting facility which includes seating for approximately 40 guests. It is co-owned by Phillip Di Bella, a longtime friend of Dello Mano owners Deb and Bien Peralta and founder of Di Bella Coffee, Australia's top specialty coffee roaster and 2016 Golden Bean champion.

Abbotsford Road Coffee Specialists Headquarters in Gowanus, Brooklyn, NYC

The space opened in late 2017 and with so much competition already present in New York's coffee scene, Abbotsford Road Cofee Specialists came up with a different approach. The company pitched the cafe as a wholesale brand with the goal of providing the finest coffee to help cafes and restaurants in New York and beyond become profitable coffee destinations. The café is not only a retail destination, but also as a comprehensive wholesale service and education facility for prospective clients and consumers alike. It is a one-stop shop for a brew, cafe supplies, and extensive coffee training sessions.

Wholesale Coffee Beans at the Abbotsford Road Gowanus Headquarters

The relationship between Dello Mano owners Deb and Bien Peralta and Phillip Di Bella started way back in the very humble beginnings of Dello Mano. Back then, Dello Mano didn’t even have a store front to serve coffee. Instead, Deb and Bien approached Phil in their search for the best coffee to use in creating the now famous Dello Mano Espresso Walnut Brownie. The Dello Mano Brownie philosophy has always been to use the ‘authentic best’ to create their brownie flavours. To create the best brownies, they needed the best coffee they could find and so the concept was to use Di Bella coffee extracted from an espresso machine. Despite being very small and still attempting to pioneer brownies in Australia, Deb and Bien approached Phil. It was a bold move from a little unknown brownie company down at Breakfast Creek. The smallness though didn't stop Phil from supporting the passion and belief the couple had in their dream. Phil loaned the couple a coffee machine and they launched their delicious Dello Mano Espresso Walnut Luxury Brownie with extracted Di Bella coffee. Over a decade on,  Dello Mano continues to create  the Espresso Walnut Brownie in exactly the same way and these days also serve Di Bella coffee at both Dello Mano stores.

Abbotsford Road Founders: (From Left to Right)  Karl Jameson, Phillip Di Bella and Logan Kedwell 

Another Austrailan behind Abbotsford Road is Logan Kedwell. He is the Director of Sales and Business Development and a Partner in the company. He began working in the family wholesale fruit and vegetable business where he learned the value of consistently high quality produce and excellent client relationships. Running all four locations of Buzz Bistro, a successful chain of cafés in Australia, Logan developed intricate knowledge of the coffee industry. Eager to learn more about the roasting/wholesaling end of the business, he went to work for Di Bella Coffee, where he was involved in managing corporate accounts, café performance analysis, bean sales and brewing methods. With Logan Kedwell working behind the scenes and the experience he is bringing to the table, it is hard for Abbotsford Road to go wrong.

Coffee Roaster Inside Abbotsford Road Headquarters in Gowanus, Brooklyn, NYC

The Dello Mano dream all began when Deb and Bien Peralta decided to go on an unplanned, life changing family vacation to Italy together with their two daughters. Before the trip, they took a pact and agreed that whatever they would decide on doing in the future during their trip, they would definitely go home and do. Sitting in the Campo dei Fiori in Italy, the family was mesmerized by the Italian food-love culture. They watched how even the smallest serve of Prosciutto was so lovingly and carefully hand wrapped as if a gift, and then passed to the customer. It was the beauty of this exchange that inspired them to put up a food business centered on real handmade food. With Deb’s background in Food Science and Marketing and Chocolate Product Development, the once forgotten Australian brownie concept seemed like a great focus.

The Dello Mano Espresso Walnut Brownie With Coffee Pot

More than a decade after igniting the Australian Brownie Revolution and becoming a Brisbane icon, Dello Mano is set on entering the international scene to bring the goodness of luxury handmade brownies to the world. When Phillip Di Bella, co-owner of Abbotsford Road Cofee Specialists, offered to put the Dello Mano Luxury Brownies on display in their café in Brooklyn, Dello Mano owners Deb and Bien simply couldn’t resist. The partnership between Abbotsford Road Cofee Specialists and Dello Mano is indeed quite perfect. Abbotsford Road believes that the only thing better than a cup of coffee is a delicious treat to go with it while Dello Mano believes that there is no better treat than the Dello Mano Luxury Brownie. This is a huge step for Dello Mano and a great beginning in achieving its dream of international presence. Who knows, we might be seeing a Dello Mano café in New York very soon.