“Sometimes, when two different things meet and create, the most beautiful outcomes arise. Nashi pears, Eurasians, those little shitsu/pomeranians – all obviously superior races. This has happened to Lee and Me. Half cafe, half boutique.”
- Frankie Magazine
Since we opened our doors in June 2008, we have been selling lovely food, in a lovely space to lovely people, conveniently located on the main street of our home ground – Wollongong.
Owned by husband and wife duos Lee and Shay Sullivan and Benny (aka ‘Me’) and Naomi Hudson, the heart of Lee and Me is to create a community, a hub, where you can feel comfortable and inspired – leaving with a full tummy and some new threads.
Operated out of an old heritage terrace house, built in 1890 and a wee bit charming, it kinda feels like your home away from home – whether you are warming up by the open fireplace in Winter, catching some rays on the terrace in the warmer months or sharing a meal with friends (or meeting new ones!) at the community table.
And be sure to walk up the Australian Red Cedar stairs to find a healthy selection of men’s and women’s shirting, shorts, dresses, denim and playsuits with brands such as Vanishing Elephant, Nudie, Insight, Something Else and many more. And each month the walls are adorned with a new artist in residence, with each work available for sale.
WHAT SAINT NICHOLAS SAID: Nicholas Watts
It is often heard that the cats at Lee & me have taken a little slice of Surry Hills or Fitzroy and planted it in sunny Wollongong, a brave compliment, to be sure. The tropes are there: consistently good coffee, seriously fresh food, banging tunes, a mighty shrine to the life-giving Bonsoy. But this only goes half-way to describing what has become a local institution, a place so fine that should Wollongong go for independent statehood, our car license plates would read: Wollongong, where Lee & me’s at. The staff, supreme purveyors of good times and high fives, mined this municipality for its essence of relaxed, beachy nods to all that life offers, and finally took it to heart. Wollongong can be a pretty lethargic place, motorists travel at two speeds, old man Jimmy Jenkins going 16km/h or select youths at Southern Cross 130km/h, and sometimes it can affect your mental acuity or general sense of time-measurement. But don’t fret, Lee & me will get you hustling, in the best possible sense of the hustle. At the great communal table of knowledge, complete with papers from Fairfax and News Corp and a few sets of Scandinavian deer antlers, you can watch life in the fast line while seated squarely in the bike lane. All types are drawn in, like moths at night attracted to the glow of smooth Campos coffee. Executive Businessmen, tradies, good for nothing youths, philosopher kings, surely an ex-mayor or two, we’re all here. And when here, the vibe is all time summertime. It’s cool without the crushing pressure of needing to be cool, and without a coolness timer that kicks you out after you have finished consuming. I once spent just over four hours at the table of knowledge finishing an assignment that was more than four hours late, and rather than sending me packing for drinking too much free water, I was given poetic inspiration from a steady stream of erudite cooks. Lee & me’s legacy, and it is not rampant exaggeration to award it a legacy, has turned a small square of Wollongong CBD (it may be exaggeration to afford Wollongong a CBD) into a food and coffee destination. Before, there were pickings, most went by the name Slim, and when visiting Wollongong the imperative was a stocktake sale at David Jones. Now, there is reason to stay, even to smile. Serious competition is a testament to quality, once said Kevin Rudd, Minister for Something. Post–Lee & me Wollongong is somewhere to be, to ride a bike around, somewhere even to live.