June 2015 covershoot

For the June edition of BeanScene, we celebrate the incredible talent of the new World Barista Champion – Sasa Sestic at Ona Coffee in Canberra. Watch as Sasa replicates his winning signature drink!

Kinetto Coffee & Kitchen

Kinetto Coffee & Kitchen is the new kid on Adelaide’s Frankin St block. With the opening taking place in mid February, Owner Fred El Sayed has been busy working long past the sun goes down most nights for the last few months.

“Kinetto comes from the Greek word ‘kineto’ meaning motion or movement,” says Fred. “Think of kinetic energy – we’re always on the go.”

With 20 years of experience working in the hospitality industry, Fred says he loves the fast-paced nature of café work and the comradery that develops between both staff and customers.

“We want Kinetto to become part of the community here,” he says. “A place where customers can come in and they know they’ll experience both quality coffee and delicious food made with love.”

With its polished timber tabletops and concrete floors the café layout is quite minimalistic. The high ceilings and exposed rafters create a modern look suited to the open-plan design.

Kinetto is serving its customers Mocopan’s Roast ’54 from the brand new Black Eagle VA 388, which sits proudly on the café counter. “We use Mocopans’ Roast 54’ for our espresso because it’s a really versatile coffee,” Fred says.

Roast 54’ is a blend of Sumatran Mandheling, which is a grade one, triple-picked and sorted bean, as well as beans from Inza in Colombia, a Papua New Guinea Kimel A, and the Djimmah in Ethiopia. “It has a rich and earthy flavour, with dark chocolate notes,” Fred says. “It works well as a black or milk-based coffee.”

Fred says that the food served alongside the coffee is simplistic, with flavours that stem from his European background. “Kinetto’s food is influenced by our Mediterranean culture using fresh, local, seasonal produce,” he says.

Kinetto serves a range of dips, Greek pita and cakes, in addition to fresh salads, sandwiches, and burgers, all made in-house.

Fred says he’s always been quick to make friends with his regulars and likes nothing more than a good chat over the counter. “I love spending time getting to know all the people I see every day,” he says. “I’ve been working in cafés a long time – it’s still my passion.”

One Origin Specialty Coffee

Alan Chan has tried both sides of the coffee machine – working as both a roaster and a barista. After 15 years in the hospitality industry, Alan says it was time to combine all the coffee knowledge he’d developed and start his own cafe.

“One Origin is about educating people about good quality coffee, and letting them experience something new,” he says.

Alan first got a glimpse of the hospitality industry when his parents owned a restaurant in the 1980s. While he studied law and commerce at university, after two and a half years he knew coffee and food were where his heart was. Instead, Alan completed a hospitality and management course, and worked at notable venues before opening his own café.

The interior of One Origin Specialty Coffee is homely and welcoming with an industrial touch. Alan has sourced a range of recycled materials to establish a style he describes as “a taste of old and new”. Most prominently, reused wooden slats make up the coffee counter facade that holds the custom-painted red La Marzocco machine. Industrial neon lights, recycled floorboards, ceiling beams, and exposed brick walls also help create the sustainable design.

The house blend is a seasonal coffee from Axil Coffee Roasters. The blend uses 50 per cent yellow Bourbon from Sertaozinho in Brazil, while the other half is a washed Colombian Los Naranjos. In black coffees it offers chocolate, orange, and toffee flavours. In milk it displays notes of chocolate, shortbread, and citrus. Two rotating single origins are on offer in addition to rotating guest blends. Current favourites include blends from Mailing Room, Industry Beans, Uncle Joe’s Coffee, and Axil Coffee’s single origins.

V60 and cold drip are also available, as is a range of single origin specialty teas. At the time of print Uncle Joe’s Purple Haze was used for the cold drip, served over ice. “I’m slowly converting our customers to cold drip – one at a time,” says Alan.

With Head Chef Lee (ex-Nobu) on hand to help bring Alan’s food dreams to reality, must-try items from the all-day breakfast and lunch menu include the Wagyu Beef Burger and Super Mario.

“This industry is always changing so there’s always something new to learn. Eight out of 10 people actually work in a job that doesn’t makes them happy. I’m lucky. I’m living the dream,” Alan says.

Laneway

Nestled down one of Devonport’s most café-dense lanes, the aptly named Laneway is doing things a little differently.

In its fourth year of operation, Owners Alex McVeity and Rhys Taylor have been working hard to ensure their delicatessen/café stands out among the hoards.

“We’re always looking at ways to improve,” says Rhys. “For us that means simply listening to our customers, finding out what they want and fine-tuning what we’re offering.”

Born and raised in Tasmania, both Rhys and Alex spent a number of years working abroad and in other states before opening their café in Devonport.

“Working in Melbourne definitely had an impact on the direction we took when we decided to open Laneway,” Rhys says. “We realised there wasn’t really anything here, which was like what we’d come to love, so we decided to bring a little bit of Melbourne back with us.”

Rhys and Alex set out to create a friendly, relaxed atmosphere where they could focus on providing a personalised service to their customers. Rhys says part of their ambitious plan for a Devonport café meant placing a high emphasis on producing quality coffee to accompany the fine food they offer.

Laneway serves Bristot’s Rainforest blend on its custom-made La Marzocco FB80. Bristot’s Rainforest is a Brazilian and Central American blend, and is Rainforest Alliance certified.

“It’s a robust, Italian espresso with a fair bit of body,” Rhys says. “It’s a stronger coffee with a slightly chocolate aftertaste.”

Laneway also serves an Ethiopian single origin on request for its more discerning coffee drinkers.

For diners, Rhys and Alex have designed a café style menu with a modern twist. The all-day breakfast menu features many dishes using organic produce from their own properties.

“Our Spanish beans, which are made using pancetta and chorizo, and served with sour cream, spring onion, and sweet preserved chilli on sourdough is very popular,” Rhys says.

Gusto on the beach

Parallel to the pristine waters of Curl Curl Beach on New South Wales’ Northern Beaches is a café that’s attracting as much attention for its coffee as the beach does for its surf.

“We want people to come here not just for the location but for the quality of coffee. We want Gusto on the Beach to become a coffee destination,” says Tim Jones, CEO of Belaroma Coffee.

Gusto Coffee is one of Belaroma’s seven coffee brands. Gusto on the Beach is the new Gusto flagship café. The venue opened in November within the South Curl Curl Surf Life Saving Club, which has been a key part of the local community since 1915. The site’s kiosk has been a staple to the lifesaving club for years.

“We thought it important to showcase the quality of Gusto coffee, so we launched our first Gusto-branded café,” Tim says.

Head Barista Michael Camiller serves customers Gusto on the Beach’s Mañana blend using a three-group Unic Stella di Caffe and a Nuova Simonelli Mythos grinder. All Gusto beans are roasted on a state-of-the-art Brambati roaster at the Belaroma coffee roasting facility in Manly Vale.

“With beans sourced from Central America, this blend is spicy, intense with a nice sweetness to it,” Tim says. “It has a full body with medium acidity and high aromatics combine to produce a satisfying all round experience. It’s a great blend for milk-based coffees, which is mainly what we serve.”

A range of alternative brew methods are available for filter coffees, and rotating single origin coffees are always on offer.

“Our different coffees and brew methods are still very much an education process, but the main thing is that we’re making it available and accessible to people. Most of our café customers are residents from the local area, but people are keen to come in and try something different – that’s an attitude we’re definitely seeing improve,” Tim says. 

Gusto on the Beach is a point of connection between all types of people who are after a place to unwind and enjoy life on the lower Northern Beaches. The café has already become popular among joggers, people walking their dogs, surfers, and swimmers who love its relaxed atmosphere.

The newly renovated venue with a million-dollar view has transformed the previous dark interior with a “bright and beachy feel”. Plenty of outdoor seats and reclining chairs are scattered around the balcony for customers to soak up the summer sun.

“When it’s sunny the place is chaos, especially on the weekends when 600 nippers and their parents come down to the beach. But even on a grey, cloudy day, it’s nice for people to know they can come down to the beach and enjoy a great coffee.”

Head Chef Chris Blatchford serves a “light, tasty, and uncomplicated menu” that’s fast becoming a hit with local beach-goers looking for something other than a Golden Gaytime or bucket of chips. Favourite items include couscous salad, fresh yogurt with fruit and muesli, healthy sandwiches, and tasty salads.

“I’m really impressed with the café’s progress. We’re already seeing a great response to the Gusto blend,” Tim says. “It’s a completely new coffee experience. We don’t expect customers to compromise on their coffee for the destinations, and they don’t have to. The feedback has been brilliant.”