Fast forward a year or two and they're the proud owners of a brand new Nookie Espresso cafe in the Civic bus interchange.

"Nam and I have been in and out of hospitality since we started our careers and then both left for the public service but always had that in us, the customer service, we loved everything about it," Phengrasmy explains. "When the hole in the wall came about we thought there wasn't much expenses, there wasn't much to lose."

But the coffee kiosk proved incredibly popular, and a few months later they expanded to a Nookie coffee van in the Hamlet on Lonsdale Street. "It seemed to work well enough that we got to a point where it reached full capacity. We couldn't cook there because there was no space," she explains.

Now, they've got that space - they've leased out half of the Zambrero's site in Civic and have a proper cafe with kitchen, complete with a romantic rose-red and white photo portrait of flowers that dominates one wall and the high arches of the historic Sydney building on the other.

"Everything was just so surreal. Even to this day I still think to myself, oh my god. I have to be an adult now," she laughs.

They've started small, with grab-and-go fruit salad cups, chia puddings, yoghurt, sandwiches and pastries to satisfy the breakfast working crowd. But they plan to expand to bigger plates, such as pastas and steak sandwiches, and Phengrasmypromises a lot of support for vegan and gluten-free eaters.

Nookie Espresso Bar is at the corner of East Row and Alinga Street in Civic.

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