Determined, driven and passionate are words I would use to describe Yanna Dascarolis. Simple, stylish and sophisticated is how I would describe her new venture, Artisan Canberra. Yanna and her husband Peter are both lawyers but they’ve always had a passion for food. They’ve owned a number of coffee carts in the past few years and Yanna’s family have owned cafes in Canberra for 20 years.
At 5 months pregnant Yanna is turning her dreams of owning a food venue into reality. Artisan Canberra turned on the coffee machines for the first time yesterday and people cued for the ‘hour of power’ launch where they were able to claim free coffee from 10-11am.
What was once an empty foyer on the ground floor of the Ernst and Young building in Canberra’s CBD is now a bustling pop-up style cafe.
If you visit Artisan Canberra you’ll find The Fix juice and lots of other locally-sourced products in the cabinets. Yanna said she even hunted down the Italian man who makes the most delicious Italian doughnuts in Canberra. You’ll know the ones I’m talking about if you’ve had them. He makes the sugar coated ones (in the photo) or the custard filled cannoli and they’re to die for. If you haven’t tried them yet you can get them at Artisan Canberra! Apparently he’s very picky about who he supplies them to and had to visit the venue before he agreed.
You will also find a selection of gourmet sandwiches using Autolyse bread, wraps, bagels and baked goods. Some of the food is even made by Yanna’s family!
There are more than 2000 people who work in the Ernst and Young Building and there is an opportunity for some of those lucky people to win an office catering package valued at $300. The level with the most coffees purchased this week will win the catering!
Artisan Canberra aims to provide good coffee and good food at a good price.
Location: Ground Floor, Ernst and Young Building, 121 Marcus Clarke St, opposite Canberra House
Trading hours: 7am-3pm Mon-Fri
Style: Quick, grab and go, gourmet sandwiches, coffee, baked goods
Amelia Bidgood
Amelia is the Founder and Editor of Eat Canberra and the Founder and Managing Director of Eat Canberra Food Tours. She's a qualified journalist, presenter, freelance writer and also runs a boutique communications agency working with small business owners on all things social media, content creation and marketing. She's taught cheesemaking classes, judged hospitality and tourism awards, completed the WSET Level 1 Award In Wines, loves to cook and has travelled to 23 countries. She's also passionate about mental health and has recently started studying to become a Counsellor.