Niccolo Coffee is partnering with Bluestone Lane Coffee to give Australian baristas the opportunity to take up residency in one of Bluestone’s trendy New York cafés.
This year at Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE), Niccolo Coffee is not only inviting the crowds to try its locally roasted beans, it is also encouraging baristas to stop-by to discuss job opportunities in New York City (NYC).
Bluestone Lane Coffee serves Niccolo coffee at its seven locations in NYC and another in Philadelphia. In 2016, the Australian owned café group is opening another ten and is recruiting Australian baristas to help it do so.
“Aussie baristas are leading the way,” said Niccolo’s Davide Drummond. “You can just about travel any where in the world and you’ll see them in the best specialty coffee shops – particularly New York, London – even Paris.”
Davide says Bluestone is looking for a gun all-rounder with experience working in a busy environment.
“Bluestone has a great training system over there but ideally they’d like someone with a bit of knowledge to share with the New Yorkers,” he says.
Bluestone Lane is the brainchild of Australian Nick Stone. Having moved to the city that never sleeps some years ago, Nick found that he couldn’t find a decent drop to help him stay wake. Nick took a practical approach to solving his coffee woes and opened the first Bluestone Lane in NY’s Midtown East. It went well so Nick opened a second, a third and then an eighth.
He credits part of Bluestone’s success to the fact that they offer an Australian serving style.
“In NY, generally people line up for 10 minutes to order and pay at the counter. Then they have to wait for their coffee. It’s a bit like a production line.” Davide says. “The Australian service culture is very different, and is one of the reasons for Bluestone’s success. Bluestone employs a number of Australian baristas and offers table service. There’s always a smile and a bit of banter that comes with the coffee.”
Stone wanted quality coffee to match the quality service, which is where Niccolo joined the show.
Through Niccolo, Stone found that he could source the coffee he wanted from Australia, quicker than NY roasters could provide it.
“We roast on Monday and the coffee is delivered to Bluestone on Thursday,” says Davide. “These cafés are turning over between 50 – 75 kilos of coffee a week, so we have to be as good as the barista.”
Davide says that ideally what they are looking for is a barista willing to stay at least 12 months and that they’d love to help someone launch a career in coffee.
“The boys at Bluestone will help with visas and accommodation and help them find their way in the city,” he says. “There is an opportunity to work between the different cafés, to step into different roles and to take on more of the business responsibilities.”
Niccolo is taking a Strada 3-group machine to MICE and is hoping to give barista hopefuls the chance to drop in and demonstrate what they do.
“Bring your resume, bring you’re A-game, come and have a chat and you might just go home with a pretty cool new job,” he says.
