13 February 2026

Specialist café operator takes over at the Block

An experienced operator of cafés in offices and shared workspaces has taken over the running of De Beauvoir Block Café, marking an exciting new chapter for the Block as we continue to grow our role as a vibrant community space.

Andrea Furfaro runs three other office-based hospitality businesses, one in nearby Haggerston and two in the city. With the help of our Block team, he hopes to expand the café’s offering as a meeting place and centre for events and activities, improving our already strong sense of community.

Users of the café can look forward to a bigger range of cakes and cookies to go with their morning coffee or afternoon tea, and plans for some lighter, more budget-friendly options on the lunch menu.

Italian-born Andrea spent many years living in Australia, initially working an office job with insurance company Bupa, before realising his true passion of hospitality and moving on to manage a café in an office district of Melbourne.

Moving to the UK in 2016, Andrea continued with café management for four years before founding his own hospitality business, the Coffee Hut, in 2020. Since then he has expanded his operations – and says he is really pleased to be bringing his particular brand of café management to De Beauvoir Block.

He intends to be on site at the Block for much of the time, working alongside two members of staff, Jake and Josh.

Riley Wallis, our De Beauvoir Block Community Manager, said: “It’s great to welcome Andrea to the Block Café.  He’s brimming with ideas and has a very good grasp of what goes well in shared workspaces so we’re looking forward to working together on behalf of all our tenants.

“The café is so important to the Block and we know how much it is valued by the individuals and businesses based her.  Andrea is helping us to kick off what promises to be a busy and event-filled year ahead - watch this space.”