Those who have walked passed On Lake Cafe during its construction process in Bowen Park right by Lake Burley Griffin, has probably wondered firstly what it was and secondly what was taking so long.

"A lot of people that live in the area have been doing their walks, doing their bike riding and they've been watching this go on - well, the time from the building starting - but didn't know what was going to happen," Gerakiteys says.

But in reality, the construction, which began in 2018, wasn't the only thing which held up the opening of Gerakiteys's cafe.

The original idea for On Lake Cafe began right back in 2014. And originally, it wasn't a permanent structure specialising in Greek street food but a mobile kiosk offering pies, hot dogs and the like.

So what was the hold up?

Well, for the better part of four years Gerakiteys's cafe plan was stuck in the rigmarole of trying to get lease to use the prime real estate.

Then once building began in late 2018, issues arose when high voltage lines were installed right by the site Gerakiteys had already broken ground on.

When it eventually came to open its doors in April, On Lake Cafe had already been through a baptism of fire, of sorts, so coronavirus was never going to stop Gerakiteys open his doors.

"Because I'm entirely takeaway and I was in a park, in some ways it helped me because everyone else had to shut because of coronavirus," he says.

"More and more people are realising what's happening here and they're making it a pitstop now."

With arguably the best view in Canberra, it's hard to see anyone passing up the chance of enjoying themselves with a cup of coffee looking out over the lake.

But Gerakiteys believes that had he had stayed with the original plan of selling pies and hotdogs, it would have limited On Lake Cafe's potential.

"The idea had already passed. I couldn't see it being a business that would turn over a hell of a lot," he says.

"Greek street food, on the other hand, was very much in favour then and very much in favour now.

"I've started up pretty simple keeping with the Gyros, the Greek salads, all the traditional Greek style things - even all of my sweets which are going great guns.

"My Greek sweets are to authentic old-time recipes and people are loving them."

On Lake Cafe is open seven days from 7.30am to 6.30pm.

It's been a long-time coming for the team at ONA Coffee, but this Thursday will see it officially open its doors of its Melbourne store after being delayed several months due to COVID-19.

The Brunswick location is set to be the Canberra roaster's flagship store, with the Breathe Architecture-designed building housing 110 seats inside.

It also features an outdoor deck for seating, a filter experience bar, open plan kitchen, extended retail displays and a training room in an upstairs loft.

Following in the style of their Canberra and Sydney venues, ONA Coffee Melbourne will be offering a range of house blends and rotating single origins.

In addition to this daily coffee menu, ONA Coffee Melbourne will also offer a special 'reserve menu' of frozen coffee beans.

And like the other stores, ONA Melbourne will serve its coffee as either black, milk or filter, rather than a specific style of coffee such as a latte.

"This means the way your coffee is served is consistent every time you visit, but you're also able to choose the way it tastes - maybe one day you'll have a blend that tastes like chocolate, the next day you'll have a blend that tastes like strawberries and cream," says ONA Coffee Melbourne manager Devin Loong.

"The reserve menu allows us to take coffee beans that are rare, exciting and that may not be normally served in a cafe and share them with our customers whenever we like.

"So what you get instead of a 'normal' coffee menu is a menu that reads more like a wine list, broken down by origin and flavour profile.

"It gives the customer more choice and helps everyone to learn more about where coffee comes from, and what different coffee varietals taste like."

Loong, a two-time Australian Brewers Cup Champion, will oversee the Melbourne venue Three Poplars Consulting, which oversees all of ONA Coffee's retail venues.

The all-day menu will also have an emphasis on fermented ingredients, preserves and vegan food.

ONA Coffee founder and chief executive, Sasa Sestic says a significant part of creating the Melbourne cafe and training space was a focus on community.

"In our other cafes and across all ONA Coffee's partner cafes, we've always had a primary focus on supporting local community, other businesses and our neighbours," Sestic says.

"We're looking to continue that focus on community in this Brunswick venue, and want to make sure that every person that walks through our doors feels that they're in a space that represents Melbourne and the high standard of coffee the city maintains."

ONA Coffee Melbourne is located at 22 Ovens St, Brunswick. For more information, go to onacoffeemelbourne.com.