After a much-needed hiatus, Dragan and Marija Sestic of Dramanti fame have reopened their Tingal Road cafe under a new banner. With Mad Mile, the duo has introduced a fresh aesthetic, a menu of European-inspired eats and brews from Ona Coffee, while still offering the same brand of warm, local-focused experience, right where it all began.
New name, same heart – a pair of familiar faces have opened Mad Mile in Wynnum
Jul 17, 2025, updated Jul 16, 2025
By the time Dragan and Marija Sestic sold their beloved Wynnum cafe Dramanti to new owners in July 2024, they were drained. Coming off the back of COVID-19 – and following hot on the heels of the sale of their long-running wholesale coffee business – the couple were exhausted, both in body and mind.
Dragan and Marija’s 12-year innings at the helm of the Tingal Road mainstay had firmly entrenched the couple as cherished members of the broader bayside community, but even with unwavering local support keeping Dramanti in the black, the duo couldn’t keep running on empty and risk undoing more than ten years of hard work.
“I just lost the passion that you need for a business like this,” says Dragan. “I thought that since we were turning 50, maybe it was time for us to slow down.”
And slow down they did. Dragan and Marija sold Dramanti and entered semi-retirement, embarking on a multi-month European holiday soon after. But, while exploring the vibrant food scenes of Barcelona and Paris, the spark of passion that had been missing re-emerged.
“We saw the sights, went to some really nice places and ate some really nice sandwiches,” recalls Dragan. “We’d say to each other, ‘Oh, I wish we could do [something like] this’ – and then kind of that little tingle inside of us started growing again.”
Earlier this year, Dragan and Marija began an unhurried search for new opportunities. Eventually, Dragan and Marija were presented with the chance to reacquire their Tingal Road cafe. With locals already stopping the duo on the street asking them to come back, Dragan and Marija reasoned that perhaps the opportunity they sought was, in fact, right where they left off.
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“We know this community and we love this community – we’ve been here for 12 years. I don’t think there would be a better opportunity than this, if we were going to come back,” says Dragan.
“When we decided we were going to come back, we knew that we couldn’t do it as Dramanti, as it was no longer our brand. So we thought let’s make it as local as possible.”
Last week, the cafe officially reopened to the public under a new banner. Mad Mile, named after an infamously hazardous stretch of Tingal Road, looks considerably different than its previous guise, with Dragan and Marija determined to start their new chapter with a fresh slate.
The cafe’s rustic aesthetic has been exchanged in favour of a cleaner and more contemporary look, with timber (including soundproof panelling), a mint-green counter and white tile creating a visual personality that exudes warmth. Soon, black-and-white photos cataloguing the Dramanti journey will adorn one wall, while imagery of Wynnum’s earlier history will blanket another. A new retail display is also being installed soon.
“When we started thirteen years ago, this was only going to be a roastery – it was never going to be a cafe,” Dragan explains. “Over the years we only had two renovations – we put the kitchen in and beautified up front a little bit. But we always kept it dark, with an unfinished look. So now we thought, let’s make it a little bit more approachable.”
“We wanted to do something warm, because we have kids, adults and grandparents that come in – everyone needs to feel at home here and comfortable,” adds Marija.
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With a new name and a new look comes a new menu. Marija has built Mad Mile’s food offering from scratch, weaving in influences from the couple’s recent Europe trip as well as some current trends to create a drool-worthy selection of dishes.
“My direction from the beginning was to not put everything on the plate,” Marija explains. “I wanted the food to be clean, simple and not overwhelming with different flavours.”
The Mad Mile menu starts with classic cafe eats, like eggs Benedict, brekkie rolls, smashed avocado and plant-based porridge. Those seeking something new should look to the signature brunch items like the Turkish eggs (with spiced lamb mince, garlic-and-herb yoghurt, poached eggs and smoked-chilli butter), the Magic Mushie toast (mushrooms with greens, braised capsicum, parmesan and crispy enoki) and the Kiss My Kataifi, a Dubai chocolate-inspired number boasting chocolate-custard-soaked French toast, pistachio kataifi, melted milk chocolate, vanilla ice-cream and raspberry coulis.
Mad Mile’s kitchen is also plating up a number of salivation-worthy sangas (filled with the likes of mortadella and stracciatella, and prosciutto, mozzarella and roasted red peppers), which take cues from the paninotecas that Dragan and Maria fell in love with while overseas.
“We loved the fresh sandwiches in Italy – they were so simple, with three ingredients,” says Marija. “We’re now baking our bread from scratch and then all of our ingredients are fresh as can be.”
Though Dramanti’s roasting arm is no longer in operation, Dragan and Marija have kept it in the family when it comes to its coffee supplier. Mad Mile is pouring brews using beans from Ona Coffee, the acclaimed specialty roaster founded by Dragan’s brother, world-champion barista Sasa Sestic.
Ona’s Maple and Candy blends can be found in Mad Mile’s grinders, with a single-origin coffee and another blend available on demand in a dedicated Mahlkonig EK. Of special interest to coffee purists will be Mad Mile’s limited-release filter-coffee menu, which gives caffeine connoisseurs the chance to sample four extra-special single-origins (portioned and frozen at their peak) via V60 pour over.
Other specialty beverages, including Biscoff-infused shakes, souped-up smoothies, cold-pressed juices, matcha lattes and berry lattes, are also available.
“We haven’t changed the nature of business – we still want to run a cafe that people felt good coming to every single day,” says Dragan. “There’s no business KPIs to hit, no desire to have a second location or to grow wholesale again. It’s just going to be this place.”
Mad Mile is now open to the public seven days a week – head to The Directory for operating hours and other details.