The Grounds of Alexandria is a garden oasis in an otherwise industrial (but hip) part of inner Sydney. Located on the site of a former parking lot (and before that, a pie factory) it now encompasses multiple restaurant areas, a petting zoo, a florist and event spaces. A vintage and unabashedly pretty aesthetic have made the space a magnet for Instagrammers.
"For me, looking deep down, it's a place to connect. It's a place to escape," says co-owner, Ramzey Choker.
That's because the inspiration for the space is rooted in his childhood memories.
The Grounds of Alexandria employs over 250 people, including an in-house stylist. Source: Supplied
"When [my father] was doing business, the only time I used to seem him was on a Sunday. My sister used to say 'lets go to a cafe and we'll see dad'... So I wanted to recreate that, [and] a time in my life when my mother used to take me to the farm," he explains. "My mum was from Grafton. I had all these memories from the potting shed, to the cafe, to the garden. So the Grounds was created out of these desires to not only recreate these memories, but also look after my family."
Family and loss are two themes that pop up frequently in conversation with Ramzey. For him, the Grounds is like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes, an idea that developed after an intensely turbulent time in his life about a decade ago.
"My father was an amazing entrepreneur," he explains. "He basically ran a food service company supplying hotels, bars and clubs from 30 years. When the [financial crisis] happened, all the banks started calling in all his loans."
Ramzey decided to sell his own business at the time, a wine bar called Bacco in Sydney's CBD, and ploughed $2.6 million into his father's company, trying to prop it up.
"After two years, [my father] lost the whole business. He [had] built a 100 million dollar empire, and ... we lost everything, and I mean everything. We lost houses, cars, everything, we literally had nothing."
Not long after, his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. "I tried to do everything to save him, I took him to the Mayo Clinic in America, but unfortunately he ended up passing away," Ramzey says.
It was a dark time for him, a period he describes as "pure torture."
Ramzey Choker credits his father for his success. Source: Ramzey Choker
Amid the grief, a vague idea of what would eventually become the Grounds began to take shape. It would a be a recreation of happier times in his life.
"For a year I started to develop plans, do research," he says. His sister, who owns a design firm, helped create renders of his vision. The landlord of the site where the Grounds currently sits got on board. Award-winning barista Jack Hanna joined as his business partner.
But there was a critical piece of the puzzle missing: "I had no money, I didn't know how I was going to do it, i just had this vision."
Ramzey's best friend came to the rescue, lending him half a million dollars to start the business.
"We opened the doors in 2012, and from that day its been amazing journey."
It was six months before the business started turning a profit; a year before Ramzey started paying his friend back.
The Potting Shed is one of the Grounds' outdoor eating spaces. Source: Supplied
The Grounds now employs around 250 people - a big jump from the 15 people they opened with.
"Our goal for the Grounds is to get turnover to 50 million in the next year," he says. "We always thought in the beginning we'd just been turning over you know, two million, but it's just now from learning and growing ... and the crises that have happened to us, it's enabled us to build this phenomenal business."
Ramzey says 70 percent the Grounds' turnover comes from its two eating spaces - the Cafe and The Potting Shed. The rest is drawn from events and other "bits and pieces we're doing."
And he's convinced having an in-house stylist gives the business an edge.
"Unfortunately most business can't or don't see the value and aren't able to get a stylist or designer or art director in their business. So I look at the Grounds, it's not just a hospitality company - we're making the most beautiful things the world has ever seen."
No surpise then, that it was the 6th most instagrammed place in Australia in 2015.
But when it comes to his success, Ramzey credits his father most of all.
The Grounds of Alexandria was the 6th most Instagrammed place in Australia in 2015. Source: Supplied
"I think looking back at my father, the biggest and most inspirational part is even to the day he died - he never gave up."
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