Saturday, June 29, 2013

Coffee Hit

For surprising this foxymoron 

Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, Fountain Gate




I returned to my old stamping ground, Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, with some trepidation. This is where I used to prowl as a pre-teen mall-rat. This is where, from 15 to 18, I worked my first job, a check-out chick at Harry Heath's Rainbow supermarket. For four long years I scanned groceries and stacked shelves every Saturday, wearing the unattractive green sack that was Rainbow's uniform. On breaks I would duck into the food court to suck down a couple of cigarettes, butting them out in one of those disposable ashtrays made of aluminium foil. For lunch maybe I'd grab a bucket of chips, greasy fried rice, a cinnamon donut or something else equally appealing appalling. Those were the days.


Scrumptious food in the display cabinet.
And so, returning to Kath & Kim land nearly two decades later to meet a potential new giver of work, I have to admit to being shocked. I'd driven out here as a no-longer-from-around-these-parts snob; I was not expecting the place to look this, well, classy. And when I spotted Coffee Hit, where we'd arranged to meet, I found myself thinking: ooh ahh, it's nice, different... unusual!

Latte art
Coffee Hit is Melbourne street cool in a shopping centre environment. A pod in the main shopping thoroughfare, its industrial design with slashes of red incorporates loads of wood and striking crescent-shaped banquet seating, which semi-encircles the tables and chairs gathered around the coffee station. A large communal table at one end sports very cool stools.

Gorgeous retro-look La Marzocco coffee machine
A beautiful pearlescent white La Marzocco coffee machine takes pride of place, giving the place street cred (and me hope of getting a decent cuppa). Lynley, working the machine, turned hope into full-blown expectation when she started explaining their different blends: Caffiend (their strong blend) and the Ultimate Hit (silky smooth). I went with an Ultimate latte ... and a big slice of humble pie. Seriously, check out the latte art – we are a world away from soggy chips in a haze of cigarette smoke, people.


I do hope my new client likes my work – I am now one enlightened foxymoron, looking forward to my next hit.


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