There’s a little mystery behind the name of Yellow Bernard, according to mates and owners Scott Clements and David Jolly.
Without giving anything away, David can only say that the name represents the passion and perfection behind the business and their different personalities.
Yellow Bernard has only been open since April '11, but already the hard work and dedication is paying off. Neither Scott nor David come from a hospitality background; Scott is a carpenter by trade, and David a bicycle mechanic. What’s important is their passion for good quality coffee.
Scott and David started their coffee journey six yeas ago by drinking coffee, developing their taste, experiencing other cafés and sharpening their skills on their own home machines ever since. It appears their home experience has translated well into a commercial environment.“Having your own customers is pretty special,” David says. “To share our passion with a customer and see their face light up when we make them a nice coffee or see them come back with positive feedback its fantastic.”
The small, inner city café is largely based around a take away business. With only a few tables and chairs inside and outside the café, the interior is classy and clean with a timber grain bench top. The philosophy of Yellow Bernard is to focus on the coffee and not be too worried about food, although a little pastry cabinet with locally made croissants and danishes are available to accompany the coffee.
Melbourne-based roaster Gridlock Coffee supplies Yellow Bernard with their coffee, including a quality milk-based blend that offers a lot of acidity and sweetness. Single origins coffees are also available as an alternative to an espresso and are constantly changing.
David says people in Hobart are becoming more educated about coffee as they realise there are places they can go to get a good cup of coffee that matches up to Melbourne or sydney. A La Marzocco fB 80, straight from florence, is their prized toy and the first thing they ordered for the café.
Behind the scenes, Scott and David are competitive at the coffee machine and want to be recognised for their formal service, unconventional style and larrikin humour.
“We enjoy what we do and if people see us enjoying ourselves we think they’ll come back,” David says.
