The glow up of Churchill Road
The streetscape of Churchill Road, Prospect has seen big changes in the last few years. With cool neighbourhood cafés and green spaces, it’s giving family-friendly vibes for a great day out.
Frankly Bagels is on the ground floor of one of the new low-rise apartment blocks that are part of the ongoing renewal of Churchill Road and its surrounds.
Christie Wilkinson and Jack Crichton opened their bagel shop five years ago. She says they were searching for a “neighbourly spot” where they could become part of the community and create a space for locals to gather.
“One of the biggest draw cards was that there really wasn’t too much else there,” Christie says.
Fast forward to today and this part of Prospect is undergoing a renaissance, with new apartment buildings springing up and the demographics skewing to under-40s and families with young kids.
As it’s changing, the word is spreading about Churchill Road’s charms, just a stone’s throw from the CBD.
There are plenty of places with great coffee and delicious food – dropping in for breakfast or lunch is a surefire winner for everyone.
“Bagels and coffee have always been our niche, and we haven’t tried to deviate too much,” Christie says. They have all the classics like smoked salmon, pastrami or bacon, plus chimichurri chicken, blueberry cream cheese and more.
“We’ve also got really good house-baked cookies,” Christie adds.
Across the road is the wide expanse of Charles Cane Reserve. When the City of Prospect threw a launch party for the reserve after its upgrade (it now has a cool playground and outdoor fitness equipment), they ordered around 200 bagels from Frankly Bagels.
Having that beautiful, green, open space for customers to spill out into has been good for the thriving business.
You might like
“There’s lots of good dog watching too; we get some furry friends that come past on their morning walks,” Christie says.
On the opposite side of the reserve, John-Paul Romeo is running two food businesses.
Walking into The Cannoli Box Co. it’s hard not to get excited by the incredible range of cannoli other classic Italian desserts. It’s also not unusual to walk out with a boxload of these treats made with love.
Next door, John-Paul has opened ‘Ino Paninoteca, serving up fresh ciabattas, toasted foccacias and pizza by the slice.
“We’ve recently started doing Italian style piadinis, which is like a folded over pizza filled with all the good stuff, like prosciutto, truffle spread, tomato burrata, all Italian fillings,” he says.
Another new addition to the menu is crema di pistachio, a cold, frothy and creamy pistachio dessert served in a cup. If you’re craving a classic crema di caffe, it’s also found here!
When CityMag chats with John-Paul, his 18-month-old daughter is in the shop “eating her heart out”. On his break, he’ll sometimes duck across to the playground with her.
George Whittle Reserve is another big, green space in which to play, picnic or lounge around, with a skate park and basketball court to keep the kids happy.
Ashley and Jake Lowick opened Little Café on Churchill about eight years ago just down from the reserve.
He doesn’t know exactly why they were drawn to the area. “It was just one of those things that was meant to be,” Jake says. “We had the opportunity and we took it.”
He loves the customer interaction with locals and people from nearby businesses. Coffee, triple choc brownies and bacon and egg sandwiches stream out the door. All the dessert are baked on the premises, including the banana bread and Auntie Viv’s scones.
Churchill Road is also becoming a hub for allied health and wellness; you can access podiatry, occupational health, physio and more within a few minutes of each other.
There’s also Powerhouse Gym, operating since 1976 and the oldest gym in Adelaide, with owner Stephanie also running Prospect’s family-friendly, pop-up community markets.
At Timeless Dentistry, paediatric and cosmetic dentist Dr Tiensa Tran talks about the friendly vibe of the area.
She says there’s a different feel to this end of Churchill Road. North of Regency Road, it’s all big box stores, like Bunnings and Costco. Great for snapping up a bargain, but short on the human interaction that one needs to feel good.
“I see a lot of people who live in the apartments and houses, walking along the street with their dogs, with their kids, with their friends … and sometimes they’ll give us a wave. It’s really nice,” Tiensa says.
“I think the area is beautiful … and a lot of the older side streets are very vintage and beautiful with all the leaves and the trees and all the plants, especially now in autumn.”
She opened the dentistry clinic with Dr Michael O’Leary in January of this year. “We’re hoping to grow with the road as well,” she says.
For now, it’s a staff of seven – including Tiensa’s brother, Theo, who works part-time as a dental assistant while studying optometry.
“I said come work at a dental clinic, learn how to talk to and take care of people and understand how the dynamic between health professional and patient works, because you don’t get a lot of practice in any of your studies. Really live that experience.”
Zeenia Smith is another newbie to the area, having opened Extend Studio almost a year ago.
She says she loves the community and vibe of Prospect and was looking for a big space to host her unique combo of reformer Pilates studio plus physiotherapy services plus coffee.
“I wanted to pull it all together at a place that didn’t have heaps of Pilates studios in the area already,” Zeenia says.
Extend Studio offers small group classes – “you don’t feel lost in the crowd,” Zeenia says – which have already built a tight knit community around them. Another point of difference is the classes can be tailored for people who are working through their injuries.
“And I think it’s nice that we’ve got the one stop shop, so people can come in for a coffee, then do a class, and after go for a remedial massage appointment,” she says.
“You could stay there for half the day and have a good time. It’s got lots of wholesome vibes to it.”
Just like Churchill Road.
Frankly Bagels is open Monday to Friday 7am – 2pm and Saturday to Sunday 8am – 3pm
Extend Studio is open for classes and physio Monday to Saturday, and for coffee Monday to Friday 7am – 1pm and Saturday 8am – 1:30pm
Timeless Dentistry is open Monday to Friday 8:30am – 5pm
The Cannoli Box Co. is open Monday to Saturday 7am – 3pm and Sunday 8am – 3pm
‘Ino Paninoteca is open Monday to Sunday 9:30am – 3pm