Best restaurants, coffee shops and bars in Melbourne, Australia
Among coffee geeks, “pilgrimage” isn’t too strong a word to describe visiting the Collingwood neighborhood cafe owned by barista/roaster/industry visionary Nolan Hirte and his wife, Shari. Nolan was one of the leaders who built on Melbourne’s early coffee culture, established by Italian immigrants and their daily espresso habits in the mid-20th century. After Nolan took a tour of America’s burgeoning third-wave coffee shops in the mid-2000s, he returned to Melbourne determined to push the expressive possibilities of filter coffee even further.
At the cafe, the drink menu — whether drip, espresso drinks or pour-overs — includes flavor descriptions that can resemble wine-tasting notes, but there’s nothing fussy about the experience, or the easygoing breakfast and lunch options. Pour-over freaks looking for the highbrow deep dive should walk two blocks to Aunty Peg’s, the Hirtes’ laboratory/counter/roasting facility, for two or three rounds of Panamanian geishas.
Proud Mary —172 Oxford St., Collingwood
Aunty Peg’s — 200 Wellington St., Collingwood