Nolan looks over dishes before they ’re served at Proud Mary Coffee in Portland, Ore. A few months in, Proud Mary USA was jam-packed every day of the week. Once Portlanders got the hang of Nolan’s style of service, however, they were hooked. Usually we get our good coffee from one place, then go have breakfast someplace else, which more often than not has terrible coffee.
The going was tough at first-even in a coffee-savvy city like Portland, we’re not accustomed to high-end breakfasts in a high-end coffee bar. I didn’t think much of it-why would this successful business owner leave his home country, and a city as cool as Melbourne at that? Several years later, though, there was Nolan, setting up shop in a large, airy storefront on uber-artsy Northeast Alberta Street in Portland. He also said that he and his wife liked the city so much they were thinking of moving here. He told me he was in Portland on holiday with his family and he heard about the event and decided to swing by. And in walked a tall, lean, bearded man wearing cut-offs and looking as Portland as anyone … but it was Nolan. It was a steamy summer day perfect for iced coffee.
What I do remember was that it was served in a wine glass and Nolan was obviously in love with it.Ī year or so later, I was at Stumptown Coffee back home in Portland, Ore., for a cold-brew throwdown that one of the staffers had dreamed up. When he came by my table, he brought a glass of his current favorite coffee-it was an Ethiopia but I can’t remember which one. Busy as he was, he would completely focus on the task at hand or the person with whom he was speaking. On my first visit (there would be more on that trip) to Proud Mary Coffee, owned by Nolan and his wife, Shari, and one of the city’s most lauded cafés, Nolan was a study in constant movement as he flitted from table to table saying hello to friends, hopping behind the espresso machine to sling drinks, chatting with the baristas, and entertaining visiting coffee producers. I had long heard about the consistently high level of service of both extraordinary coffee and quality brekkie fare in Melbourne, and none of the coffee spots I visited disappointed. I was there for the World Barista Championship, sure, but I also made plenty of time to take in the city’s famous coffee and breakfast service. I met Nolan Hirte on my first trip to Melbourne, Australia, in 2013. We chat with the Australian coffee legend about changing the café landscape in Melbourne with Proud Mary Coffee and moving stateside.
0 kommentar(er)
