The site is close to St Paul’s Cathedral and sits directly beneath the bells of St Mary-le-Bow.
The opening comes a week after Rosslyn was named the highest-placed coffee shop in London in Europe’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, which is billed as the continent’s definitive ranking of speciality cafés.
The new Cheapside store follows the same model as Rosslyn’s other nine City sites: ‘speciality coffee, made properly, in a fast-paced format built for Square Mile workers, without compromising on quality or hospitality’.
The business was founded in 2018 by Mat Russell and James Hennebry, who met while working at Caravan Coffee Roasters and grew up in Australia and Ireland respectively.
The pair say they bring together two hospitality cultures: the exacting standards and attention to detail pioneered by Australian cafés, and the warmth of the Irish pub.
The name comes from Rosslyn Street in Melbourne, where Hennebry first learned to make coffee.
In Scottish Gaelic, ‘Ross’ means headland and pink, while ‘Lyn’ means waterfall - a cue reflected in the pink and cascading motifs that run through the brand, from its imagery to its distinctive takeaway cups.
Still independently owned, Rosslyn has grown organically from its first site on Queen Victoria Street in 2018.
“London invented coffee culture as we know it, long before Melbourne or Seattle got anywhere near it,” said James Hennebry, co-founder and CEO of Rosslyn.
“Somewhere along the way the city forgot how good it used to be at this. We’ve built Rosslyn on the belief that Londoners deserve the coffee its history promised them, and opening on Cheapside, under the Bow Bells, feels like the most fitting home for Rosslyn.
“It’s about proximity to the real thing, the true version of London, not the postcard version. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do with coffee: not a trend, just the real thing, done properly, for the people who live and work here.”