I love my coffee.
I am not a food critic or cafe reviewer or coffee blogger.
I just want to share a little treasure that to me is a great example of what I mean by good hospitality, which happens to have good coffee as part of the package.
When “our” barista Courtney left our coffee haunt at the South Melbourne Market, the loss was palpable.
Great coffee, friendly banter and the taking and delivering of orders using our names were sadly replaced by table numbers and IMHO not as good coffee.
We grieved Courtney’s moving on.
We also moved on.

But a television advertisement for the Metro in which Courtney appeared in a cafe let us know he was still around.
I was really in need of a coffee yesterday whilst on an adventure in town with my boys, and I thought we’d check out and see if the cafe in the arcade under Flinders Street Station was his.
We found the compact cup.of.truth and Courtney recognized us straight away, chatting warmly to us, asking whether we still shop at the market and asking how my husband was, remembering his name, even coming around the counter to greet the boys and ask where they were up to.
He and his fellow barista delivered great coffee to the 8 or so people in the 10 mins we hung around whilst I enjoyed my latte.

The truth is, out of a small space, Courtney has made a great space.
The truth is, I like being treated like a human of individual significance, not just a number. That’s what makes for good hospitality.
The truth is, I will go back there as priority when I am in town and I want my coffee. Great coffee.
The truth is, the cup. of. truth over floweth.