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Shop 7

Mary O'Brien

Mary O'Brien visits a cafe that's built up a following making everyone feel at home.

DEEP in the heart of Melbourne's legal and grey-suit district is a modest little cafe that is very serious about its coffee. Ashiny Synesso Sabre takes pride of place; to one side is a bench for weary office workers waiting for their takeaways; overhead, there's a board with all the nitty-gritty details of the cafe's blend and the featured coffee of the week.

Owner Andrew Viola has travelled a long way from his last post at Knox's Switch Lifestyle restaurant.

He had been looking for a city spot for a few years and finally opened Shop 7 on Little Lonsdale Street in November.

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Viola has quickly built up a loyal following and says 80 per cent of his customers are regulars, many dropping in three times a day. This is the cafe around the corner they call home.

He uses a Five Senses house blend, created specially for the cafe, and a featured single-origin bean of the week.

Sometimes, the single origin is from Five Senses; sometimes, from a guest roaster such as Padre.

Viola is thrilled with his two baristas, who were recommended by the Five Senses Coffee company.

"It was like winning Tattslotto," he says of Ben Marnell and Natascha Simoes. Travelling incognito, I order my three-quarter flat white and Marnell, without batting an eyelid, kindly suggests a smaller cup, just the perfect size.

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The cafe blend is full-bodied and suited to milk-based and espresso coffees. It's a mix of Sumatra blue batak, PNG elimbari, Guatemalan Antigua los volcanes and Ethiopian yirgacheffe. Viola says it can taste slightly different every week; sometimes it has more chocolate or cocoa tones, all with a hint of berries. Coffees are double ristrettos. For New Age coffees, there's a Clever Coffee Dripper, a type of filter method that suits lighter roasts.

"If a single origin is tasting well for a particular drink, we will recommend it to customers," Viola says. "People are more discerning about their coffee. They go to cafes with good reputations at the weekend and they know what they are talking about."

With its dark wood colours and shelves of deli goodies, the cafe feels warm and homely. Viola built it with his brother and one wall is covered in a large atmospheric print of three men in Williamstown in the '50s. One of the men is Viola's grandfather, the first of the family to move to Australia from Italy.

Viola takes care of the food and the menu is straightforward, with 15 paninis, Convent Bakery bread, Dolcetti cakes and two daily soups. He chooses his products carefully: non-homogenised Jonesy's milk, Bonsoy, homemade loose-leaf chai, Kali hot chocolate and freshly squeezed blood-orange juice.

As we chat, Viola regularly dashes off to serve a customer, seeming to know most of the names and orders. It's that personal touch that makes a difference.

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