Some Coffee Shops stand out in my memory. The early ones were in Brisbane when I was in High School and for several years after. The two that stand out were both downstairs. One fitted the description I gave in the first of these Coffee Shop blogs, complete with chess sets, intellectuals earnestly discussing radical things, and Bob Dylan’s protest songs. The other is honorifically a Coffee Shop in my memory whereas it was actually a Folk Club in a Cellar, which might actually have been called the Cellar, if only I could remember clearly. I went there for the Folk Music but it was definitely a dimly lit place of good coffee, good conversation, good music and an atmosphere that has rarely been matched in my experience. Both served strong Cocoa. Nothing downgrades a Coffee Shop in my estimation like weak cocoa.
In a tiny town in North Queensland, called Bowen, and subject of my first blog on Bloggerparty, was the Horseshoe Bay Cafe. I hope it is still there. It sits beside the little granite fringed bay it is named after. Often, I would sit there having coffee, or some other cooler drink in summer, sipping and idly watching the sugar sink into the cappuccino and then gazing out towards the Barrier Reef or idly watching the bathers come and go. The coastal breezes swished the fronds on the palm trees and the sound of the waves made other music irrelevant. Occasionally I would shoo away an over zealous brush turkey as it foraged for scraps around my legs.
At the far North of Australia in Darwin I loved to sit on the verandah of the coffee shop of the Northern Territory Museum looking Northwards towards Timor, thinking both about the tragedies of that sad place and about the beautiful Aboriginal Art that I had been looking at before indulging in the fruits of my favourite culinary art form. The gallery curators were capable of drawing me back for more art and coffee by hosting exhibitions that excited my mind. I vividly remember an exhibition of clothing as art that included a wedding dress that was entirely composed of tiny toy soldiers painted white and wired together.
On the other side of the world I loved the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow which preserve the Art of Charles Rennie McIntosh, a local genius misunderstood in his day but now admired internationally. He designed the Tea Rooms, furniture and all, in his version of the Art Deco Style with a strong Chinese and Japanese influence. Despite its official title I am glad to give it the honoured name of ‘Coffee Shop’ for if I lived in Glasgow only extreme poverty would keep me from spending a lot of time there.
A score of miles away, at Balloch, where the beauteous Loch Lomond decants into the River Leven, I spent some time a few years ago as it is the area I was born in. When I was a boy, a wonderful paddle steamer still took people up and down the Loch and I went on it several times. In fact it was one of the last treats our family had before we left for Australia. Imagine my joy when I found the Maid of the Loch back at Balloch Pier and under restoration. The restoration is a long project and is continuing. Are there any rich people reading this? Here’s a worthwhile project for you to support. Do it tastefully. If you want your brand splashed along her sides keep away! What is this stuff doing in my coffee shop posting? The interiors are much easier to restore than the engines and hull and the enterprising members
of the society that is restoring her opened the old boat to the public as a cafe. I spent some happy hours on board, sipping coffee, eating cake and looking out at the loch during my time in Scotland in 2001. Here are two websites, one the official site. The other has photos of the steamer, including the Coffee Shop.
http://www.maidoftheloch.co.uk/
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/tramways/MaidoftheLoch1953.htm
Lastly, I have found a place worthy of the name Coffee Shop in Wuhan, China. It is Giano’s restaurant where the owner provides just the sort of atmosphere I describe in my definition blog. However, if you go to my blog on Bloggerparty you can read about the problem she is facing about keeping the place open. It’s a dog eat dog world and a big dog wants to eat my friend though she is more of a lovable lapdog herself. I may be about to lose my current Coffee Shop. (P.S. There’s another on the other side of town, Betty’s SPC.)