The Bureau: Parkville’s new “community hub”

With a short lifetime spent in hospitality, it is only fitting Jay Clough’s first solo venture be stamped with his own undeniable character.

The Bureau Provisions & Periodicals, a café, newsagent and providore melded into one, pays homage to the bygone era of the corner shop, while at the same time nursing it into a more progressive and thoughtful future.

For Mr Clough, the Bureau is an idea and perspective on a café that he had thought about for a long time and, with the stars finally falling into line, it was time to turn it into a viable endeavour.

Unlike your typical corner store, you won’t find a copy of New Idea and a packet of Killer Pythons. Instead, you’ll find a cabinet of fresh pastries and sandwiches, bread baked that morning, a range of pantry essentials like honey, jam and peanut butter, and a carefully curated collection of print media.

“It has all been pretty natural,” he said. “Parkville is an underserved suburb. It’s a beautiful part of Melbourne, it has that distinct village feel, but there is a sense it is cut off from the city and there isn’t a great deal of businesses on offer for its residents.”

Parkville has a reputation for being quite an intelligent, well-read suburb, the kind of people who get the paper daily and keep up to date with current affairs and we are trying catering for them.

Nestled next to the iconic Naughton’s Hotel on Royal Pde, the Bureau stocks global literary heavyweights like The Times, The New Yorker and The Economist, along with smaller, independent publications like Schwartz Media’s Saturday Paper and The Monthly, and food, culture and fashion magazines like Noble Rot, Russh and Frankie.

“My vision for the Bureau going forward is that it becomes the hub for the community in Parkville,” Mr Clough said.

“Really striving to make authentic connections with the public and provide a friendly, affordable and accessible way for locals to meet, get their coffee and bread, but also buy some interesting reading material and stay connected to the world at large.”

The Bureau Provisions & Periodicals is located at 51 Royal Pde, Parkville.

For more information, head to Instagram –
@bureau.melb •