Florey's latest local is all about community, coffee and cocktails

The group opened The Knox in Watson back in 2015 and have been looking for a second site for quite a while, says general manager Maddy Kreyl.

"We found this patch of grass here in Florey, it's been about three to four years in the making, and we've built it from the ground up," she says.

"The area needed to have the right kind of feel. We didn't want to go into the city and what makes The Knox so special is that it's quite suburban, it's got that local feel and it really serves the community.

"Florey just ticked all the boxes."

The Irvine is already humming. There are people catching up for Redbrick Roasters coffee, lunch and after school. There's an adjacent fenced playground perfect for supervised play and the Florey shopping precinct seems to be thriving, with plenty of parking and foot traffic.

We're just waiting to see what happens at night, now the liquor license has been approved. The hours are 7am-4pm on a Monday, but from Tuesday to Thursday it's open until 10pm, 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday is 7.30am until 3pm.

"There'll be a separate dinner menu, with cocktails and beers on tap and local wines," says Kreyl.

"We've trialled nights over the years at The Knox intermittently here and there, but it will be a main focus here, we're sure it will work."

The breakfast menu is available until noon. Think eggs, bacon, avocado in a variety of ways. Or try some classic French toast with maple-glazed brioche, vanilla-bean ice cream and dehydrated lemon curd.

Lunch and nights serves up a range of snacks, the chilli-salted squid is a stand out, burgers, and mains that range from chargrilled rump to a miso pumpkin salad or a 12-hour braised lamb shoulder pasta.

Kids are looked after too, with their own menus at breakfast and later in the day.

Fresh bread and pastries are delivered from The Knox every day.

The Knox Group co-owner Daniel Conroy is excited about the bar offering.

"We really want it to be a local bar, where we can connect with the community, selling local beers and wines," he said.

"That's what we're about with all our offerings, while The Knox is more cafe and bakery, the bar here will be the focus."

The team built the venue from the ground up, doing a lot of the fitout themselves. It's all modern lines, with materials such as brick, timber, steel and rope adding a textural feel. They knew the focus would be nights and while there is plenty of light and space during the day, at night the transformation will take place.

"What our group is about is giving communities what they need," says Conroy.

"We're not reinventing the wheel, it's really just about identifying what a community needs and doing a really good job of that.

"When we went into Watson, people said they needed a bakery so that's what we provided, here it was something different."

Conroy's wife and co-owner Scarlett Conroy has painted a colourful mural on an adjacent wall, it says "Making memories". Which you suspect many people will do at this suburban gem.