16 February 2012

UQ St Lucia campus favourite, Wordsmiths – The Writers Café, re-opened this week after the café facilities underwent a major refurbishment managed by UQ's Property and Facilities Division.

Nestled between the Co-op Bookshop and the new Learning Innovation Building, its tree-shaded café tables are set amongst endearing sandstone sculptures by Rhyl Hinwood.*

Long-standing restaurateur and current Restaurant and Catering Association Queensland president, Con Castrisos, is the new owner of the café and brings with him more than 20 years experience in food and beverages.

He owned the award-winning Cafe San Marco at Southbank, which was severely damaged by the floods last year.

“I am excited to be able to honour the long-standing history and reputation of the Wordsmiths Café in these fantastic new facilities,” he said.

“We are hoping to build Wordsmiths reputation as a cultural café venue and have plans to run special events and host live music, book readings and poetry nights.”

Mr Castrisos said he has 25 people working at the café, including a number of UQ students who have received barista training at Campos Coffee.

“We know good coffee is the cornerstone of any cafe and so we have one of the directors of award-winning Campos Coffee with us for the first couple of weeks to help make sure we are delivering the highest coffee experience.

“My number one priority in any café or restaurant is to provide good quality fresh produce.

“You have got to start with the right product and ingredients if you are to create good food.”

Wordsmiths is open 7am-5pm Monday-Friday, 7am-5pm Saturday and 7am-3pm on Sunday.

*The Hinwood sandstone carvings, which were created in 1996, honour significant authors published by University of Queensland Press (UQP), and University graduates and honorary degree recipients. The carvings feature writers Janette Turner-Hospital, Hugh Lunn, David Malouf, and Peter Carey, and poet Judith Wright. For more details see UQ News.