From the hills of Bassano Del Grappa in Northern Italy – just next to Venice -comes Valentina Borin. From the humble town of the Hunter Valley comes Rob Campbell and together they have evolved Something for Jess.

Vale, short for Valentina, who is a free creative bursting with energy and ideas. She discovered when she was young that she loved to bring these ideas to life no matter how wild they were. This passion and positivity guided her through life, firstly leading her to the fashion world of Italy as a product manager for eight years. Here she developed her keen eye for colour and balance. This shines through at Something for Jess from the colours on the plate; to the cafés unique atmosphere.

Vale left Italy in 2013 and flew to Australia ready for new adventures… what she discovered was her obsession for the Australian food scene & coffee culture. Wanting a fresh start she dove head first into cafés learning everything from the ground up starting humbly on the till at a fast paced CBD café. At nights she loved entertaining friends and would invite them over for dinner. Here she experimented with flavours & colours, fusing Australian’s modern cuisine with her design background and the results left every plate clean.

In August 2016 they slowly started the evolution of Something for Jess. Vale looked at the plate as her canvas and designed a completely new menu with four standout dishes that change every week. Shockingly, these weekly specials are never repeated which gives Something for Jess an opportunity to experiment with the freshest seasonal produce and spices from local Sydney farmers. This allows them to deliver a culinary experience rare for the café scene.

After the redesign of the menu, Vale & Rob saw an opportunity for Something for Jess to be more than a café. They wanted it to be a space that brought the community together breaking down the barriers of talking to your neighbours.

First off they launched their not-for-profit SFJ Art Gallery. This turned their walls into a conversation between the artists of Sydney and the locals. Taking it one step further, they take no commission from the gallery and donate 10% of all art proceeds to local charities, like Amnesty International, to raise awareness on issues in society the community should know about. Meanwhile the remaining 90% of art proceeds go straight back to the artist to keep them growing.

Next they launched Sydney music Fridays to support the sonic arts! Every Friday we play Sydney only music to give a voice to new and established artists from our beautiful city. You can checkout the playlist here on Spotify. Finally, they brought Sydney together with the Chippendale Christmas Market this year on Dec 9^th 2018, showcasing 15 boutique stalls of Art, Fashion, Music, Design, Jewellery & of coarse some amazing food & coffee.

That’s story so far… lets see what they do in 20202!