0°C | Thursday November 13, 2025 
19 September 2023
From working as a barrister at the age of 17 at Warringah Mall in 2004, to opening up Crows Nest’s newest project Always Sandwich n Brew, Sam Lee has fallen in love with the world of coffee and hospitality.
The Sun spoke to Lee about how his humble beginnings as a food and beverage manager, mentored by his boss at the time, helped shape his dream about owning his own business.
“Should I stay in the hotel industry, or should I risk it and start my own business?” he said of his thought process.
The budding entrepreneur, alongside his co-worker Quintin, planned for a year before opening up his first cafe Double Cross in the heart of Crows Nest specialising in seasonal, single origin coffee and Korean/Japanese meets Aussie cafe style fusion food. It was an instant hit, so much so that their original site on Willoughby Road (across from Phuong and Small Bar) wasn’t big enough to keep up with their popularity.
In 2021 the budding duo relocated the cafe around the corner to their current spot at 31 Albany St, which offered triple the space. At the old site Lee converted it to become Only Coffee Roasters, which specialised in unique brews and beans from all around the world from the Nordic region to Africa and South America. “We wanted to do something that wasn’t available in Crows Nest,” he told the Sun. “Only focussing on coffee, to tell the stories about the coffee customers enjoy.”
With both Double Cross and Only Coffee thriving in Crows Nest, Lee decided to open up his third venture: Always Sandwich ‘n’ Brew. “I wanted to do something small that Crows Nest didn’t have,” he added. “In my mind I wanted to have a focaccia sandwich shop.”
Keeping it simple, the newest project only serves sandwiches and batch brew coffee acknowledging that the area already had plenty of espresso style coffee options. It really is unique too, as you enter you immediately notice the six taps lined up on the wall offering four hotly brewed coffees, one iced latte and one iced tea. The coffee changes depending on season, but is currently Los Alastias from Bolivia with notes of raspberry finger lime and honey. Also available is washed Hairloom from Ethiopia, which has grapefruit and apricot flavours whilst Petit AA from Kenya features notes of grapes, passionfruit and molasses.
As for the food, the bread is sourced locally from the extremely popular McMahons Point bakery Fiore. “Before I opened up the shop I tasted a lot of sandwiches to figure out what people liked and the trends,” Lee said. “When I tried this bread it was amazing, especially their sourdough, it was so nice!”
The breakfast menu boasts Japanese curry scrambled eggs, English muffins with kewpie mayo with the option of spam and american cheese as well as the Fiore Sourdough sandwich with spreads and your choice of the curry egg, LP’s big head sausage or smoked salmon.
Their main menu is a build your own style set up. Firstly, customers can choose a meat from mortadella, free range ham, saison pork & native pepperberry salami, smoked salmon, miso tuna and meatball. For any plant-based diners there are vegetarian options available such as basil kimchi and avocado, or Van Dec which is a combination of chargrilled eggplant, olive, roasted pepper and pesto. Secondly, cheese choices range from cheddar to provolone, gruyere or stracciatella. Free extras such as rocket, tomato and pickles can be added to the sandwich. Finally, choose a sauce from extra virgin olive oil, pesto, mayo, chilli tomatoes, mustard or relish to top it all off – all for just $14.
“I want people who know about us to come once or twice a week, so I thought what’s a price that people can actually afford for lunch,” Lee added.
Always Sandwich n Brew can be found at 2 Clarke Street Crows Nest, open everyday 7.30am to 3pm.