Go north, coffee pedallers

CAFFEINE-fuelled Salvatore Malatesta usually knows which buttons to press. And to win over the modern bohemians of our inner north, he has pressed four big ones: coffee, bikes, a killer location and cool food. Malatesta's St Ali North at 815 Nicholson Street — the sister establishment to his South Melbourne coffee shrine in Yarra Place — is set to open in early December, and already looks like a winner. First, coffee: delivery of the hallowed beverage will be masterminded by champion barista Matt Perger, with Three Bags Full's Jamie Thomson as head barista and a team cherry-picked from the hot spots. The cafe's general manager, for example, is Adam del Maestro from Auction Rooms. Second, bikes: St Ali North is a virtual extension of the heavily graffitied Velo, a serious bike shop, and is positioned, on Crown land, on Melbourne's busy Capital City Bike Trail, and has a special ride-through window for cyclists. There will be free air at the cafe, and a roving bike mechanic to make spot repairs. Third, location: the 140-seat venue occupies space on the Carlton North-Brunswick East-Fitzroy North borders in a spot described by Malatesta's publicists, not unreasonably, as "the epicentre of hip". And fourth, food: the kitchen is huge, and in overall control is Jesse Gerner (Anada, The Aylesbury), who is also a partner in the business. The head chef is Chris Hamburger. Expect house-made pastries and house-cured bacon. There is a further ingenious facility: coffee nerds can arrange to have their beans of choice left for collection after hours in private mailboxes. "This is the dream space for me to launch the second-only St Ali," Malatesta says.