Onwards and Upwards Coffee Horse!

little brother showing off his superhuman strength

Yeeeeew, the past couple of days have been tough! After signing the lease, I have had two full days, 8am to 9pm of what I can only call demolition work!! The entire family has been involved bashing and ripping, trying to make the place a shell so we can re-build in a new style and layout. There has been lots of shouting at innate objects that seem intent on making life difficult. "You bastard" screams Pappa Schmidt at the cupboard that has been mocking him for that last 3 hours by refusing to come off the wall. The cupboard later got its revenge by falling from the wall at a most inopportune time, taking a sink tap with it, that we would have liked to keep. Lesson to learn? Furniture has feelings too ya know.

Today will be day number 3 and I'm hoping the last in terms of clearing out the remnants of the previous place which was a cupcake shop in case I've never said before. Over the weekend I'd like to do most of the white primer painting and then starting next week the decorating will begin. Fingers crossed for that anyway. 

Piece of advice for anyone looking to do a shop fit out...... things never go how you expect. We thought we would sell most of the previous owners equipment like fridges and counters etc and make a bit of money that way. Turns out he had cemented them all into the floor and we now need a jack hammer to crack the things out and no one wants smashed up old fridges. There have been various little issues like this, that we never could have foreseen before getting into the shop. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, adjust your plans and keep moving forward. Onwards and upwards Coffee Horse!

Just quickly, I wanted to write this post to keep y'all updated on the progress of the shop fit out but do feel like tomorrow I should go back a step, to talk a bit more about the lease negotiation process. For anybody looking to move into any type of commercial lease be it retail, hospitality or 'massage' services I would like to tell you some of what I learnt and I learnt a lot!

Sparks fly when Pappa Schmidt goes to work

Mumma spends 2 hours smashing glass of the wall
only to realise the whole wooden panel just came off.

Charlie doing something

And of course the smallest Schmidt causing trouble...
 and keeping up team morale :)

Lease signing day!!!

Wow, the past two days have been a complete roller coaster of emotion. The will it, wont it stage... back and forth between landlord, current tenant and me. Finally on April 17th 2012 everything has been signed and I can now officially say that Palomino Espresso will be located at Shop 1/61 York Street, Sydney.

Its been a hectic few months sorting everything out, researching suppliers, tradies, banks etc and I realise that this has probably been the easy part!! Now its time to get down to some serious hard work. Bye bye snooze button and Sunrise (the tv show not the actual), hello 5am starts.

The next stage is about jumping in there and setting the place up. I can envision how I would like the cafe to look in my head but now I actually have to create it. Hopefully it wont take any longer than 4 weeks to get up and running, then we can start serving you some delicious food and coffee!

And of course our amazing new cafe needs some amazing new staff. So Palomino Espresso is now officially hiring. We're looking for a passionate crew; whether you're an experienced barista looking for an exciting new venture or chef/kitchen hand looking for a new challenge, I'd love to talk to you. You don't need loads of experience (we all had to start somewhere) just a willingness to work hard and a passion for what you do. If you're interested please email a copy of your resume and a bit about yourself to: hello@palominoespresso.com.au

I'd also like to say a special thank you to my beautiful wife, without her help and trust I wouldn't have been able to do this.

Wifey on one of our "research" outings

Pros and Cons of owning your own cafe/restaurant

The self-employment subject emerged whilst chatting with a chef friend this morning. This friend has been in the industry for over 20 years and is very accomplished. Yet he debated fiercely about the negatives of being self-employed and shared with me why he had no desire to own a restaurant of his own. Later in the day I asked Mumma and Pappa Schmidt the same question, who proceeded to inundate me with the many positives of working for yourself. Their responses were passionate and compelling but then again so were Cheffy's.


THE UP-SIDES

i named this one Pokabuzz - everyone laughed at the time

• The number 1 persuasive point to working for yourself is exactly that. You are working for yourself. No Mr Boss man breathing down your neck, telling you how to dress, tapping their watch as you walk in the door 2 minutes late. "Stop bringing stray dogs into the office and dressing them up like Pokemon characters". Uuuuurgh - fist shake to the sky, do I have any freedom!! Yes, you can, bee self-employed. Then you only have to answer to yourself and of course to the needs of your customers.
• Owning your own cafe means you get to express all your creativeness and indulge those culinary desires you could previously only dream about. Mmmm lychee, raspberry brownies. This starts with the decor of your cafe, the logo, the name, the menu to decide upon. Basically everything, as I am finding out now it is so exciting creating a place from the ground up, Palomino Espresso can be everything I've ever wanted in a cafe.
• The opportunity to meet lots of lovely, interesting people in the community. This is a real plus from the cafe trade. When a customer turns into a regular and you remember their orders, know where they like to sit and in the long run get to know them. I've met quite a few friends this way over the years.
• If your coffee shop is successful, the financial incentives should be worth it. You have direct influence over your monetary success or failure.
• Despite the point above, one of Pappa Schmidts first comments was that you get to work from your heart and not just for the money. It's a happy life when you are doing something you enjoy with passion.
• An added bonus of having your own restaurant/cafe is that you never really pay for food. Yes you buy lots of stock for the business but then you end up eating breakfast and lunch there and you'll probably take some left overs home for dinner. Dollars saved.

AND THE DOWN-SIDES

• Owning a cafe isn't just another job. It's a totally different lifestyle. Prepare yourself for long hours, working on weekends and getting called in on the rare occasion you do get a day off. Bye bye social life. Ensure your partner realises the situation too!
• The financial risk. Generally, there's a lot of your money that could go down the drain. I have known people to lose their life savings in a failed cafe. Only ever borrow from the bank or invest an amount that you are prepared to lose. I decided on a number that if lost I know I can still come back from. 
• Unsteady income. In the first few weeks to months there won't be much money to put in your pocket at the end of the day. Re-investment, wages and cost of sales all have to be covered before you get your share. 
• The food industry is also very price sensitive, which means demand for your food and coffee will go up and down significantly as a result of price changes. This leaves owners with a very fine line to walk, with cost of goods and labor and making a profit. I hope to make the quality of the food, coffee and service stand out at Palomino Espresso therefore negating some of the price sensitivity.
• You never get to walk away from your own business. When things are get tough, you have to stick it out and try to turn the situation around. No clocking off at 5pm, that business is yours 24/7.
• Banks are often not too keen on the self-employed. It can be hard to secure loans in the beginning and don't even think about a new mortgage. In due course, however, these fickle creatures will soon turn around once you have an established successful business. But initially you will probably already need to own your own home or have some other assets to go guarantor on any loans.
• The last point I can think of isn't really a negative to owning a cafe but its something that makes life harder. Many would be cafe entrepreneurs don't realise the number of skills you have to have up your sleeve. At any one time you should be ready and able to perform as barista, chef or waitress. If you can't perform all of these jobs in your cafe it could make life very hard for you. What if someone calls in sick? What if you suddenly get slammed for take away coffees and have to help on the machine? Experience in all these positions is necessary as well as being a good manager.

this little guy was such a pro - Pikachomp

Look, its obvious there are going to be good and bad sides to any job in life. I must think the advantages outweigh the risks or I wouldn't be following through with my initial dreams. I believe if you really want/need to make it work and are willing to give the business everything you've got then you'll get your rewards. Most of the negatives mentioned above are issues that will surface at the beginning of the business. Give it time, establish processes and cafe life will soon become straightforward and pleasant. I can't wait to open up my little place  and I'm prepared for whatever it takes to ensure Palomino Espresso is a joy to visit and work in. 

a muffin or a tart dear?

"I say Margo, your muffins look just delicious"

"Thank you Genevieve, you're too kind. I just took them out of the oven..... see, still warm."

"Oh yes, how delightful. Well, I just saw Barnaby Lovegood in the alley and he says you have some more of those wonderful tarts in store. Are they're any left?"

"Of course, I always save a tart for you Margo, I know how you love them so."

Blackberry, white chocolate and banana muffins

Photo above taken from www.lovelifelovefood.com - review of  The Book Kitchen in Surry Hills.

A day at Morgans Handcrafted coffee roasters

Earlier this week, I had the lovely opportunity to spend the day out at Morgans handcrafted coffee roasters. I was fortunate enough to have a play about on different brewing equipment, tasted a whole variety of coffee and even got to watch the roasting process itself. Heres the storey of my day.....

Morgans Handcrafted Coffee is a family operation at heart. Established in 2004 by owner Dean Morgan it has become a name associated with award winning coffee blends and dedication to the highest quality raw product, being the beans themselves.

With so many excellent roasting operators in and around the Sydney area, deciding on which one was best for my coffee shop was a tough one. I ultimately chose Morgans as I felt the passion for what they do is still very much alive. I see this in their staff and in the excited way they showed me the different coffees and how to get the best from them. I also really appreciate the small roasteries, the smaller places have to differentiate themselves on taste, service and most important quality where as the big boys are large enough to be competitive through price. Cheaper is not always better in this instance.

Morgans sources single origin coffee beans from sustainable plantations and cooperatives from over 40 different countires. Roasting each batch to identify unique flavour profiles from the region they are from.

'It is all about superior quality from the ground up' - Dean Morgan.

The beans on the right have come all the way from Ethiopia. This is what they look like pre-roast.


On the left is the beautiful portuguese beast of a machine that does the brunt of the roasting work at Morgan's. In the photo is Josh checking on how the beans are progressing. The whole roasting process itself is much more delicate than I had first imagined. Josh always kept a high level of concentration, continually looking for visual, aromatic and audio changes in the beans. By this I mean looking for how dark they were becoming, ensuring there was no burning and listening for the tell tell pops which are an indication that the beans have cracked and are seriously hot!

Morgans are not about pumping out the kilos, careful time and consideration is taken with each batch. Each blend and single origin is roasted differently to bring out the unique flavours on offer. You'll usually find that single origin coffees are roasted slightly lighter than blends to bring out a more fruity, round bodied flavour. Whereas the blends are pushed slightly darker to give you that rich caramal flavour.

After the hot roasted beans come out of the oven, they go straight into this cooling tray which is kinda like a giant tumble dryer but with no heat and no clothes but it does spin. After they are cooled they are packed immediately for ultimate freshness and flavour.

After discovering the intrigues of roasting it was off to spend some time with Aaron, Morgans very own award winning barista. Aaron took me through some barista training to further perfect my skills. There's always more to learn, be it new brewing techniques or a bit of coffee science.

Today we went through the inner workings of the coffee machine itself. We also had a look at various grinders and the differences they will make to your grind and ultimately your coffee. It was a great opportunity to taste the different varierties of coffee on offer, and it looks like the award winnning, 100% organic 'Pony' Blend will be a staple offering at Palomino Espresso. Pony - Palomino, I guess it was fate. We're also working hard to make sure we can deliver you a couple of different single origins to try each week.

Last on the days agenda was the extremely exciting unveiling of the antique espresso machine Astoria Regina or Queen of Coffee or just Queenie. It is a 1950s lever espresso machine saved by Morgan's owner, Dean from an antique store and has been completely restored to its former glory. You'll be able to taste a black coffee made by Queenie when Palomino Espresso opens next month. We are so excited about this machine it deserves its own post so more to come at a later date.

Hope you enjoyed these snapshots of my trip to Morgans. If you would like to enjoy a coffee from the roasters themselves then the cafe and warehouse is based at Emu Plains. Take a look at the website for more details, link up the top.

A big thanks to everyone out at Morgans for all your support!

To roast or not to roast, that is the question

Commercial roasting, in my eyes is nothing less than an art form. Not only does it takes years of experience and palette refinement to master this tricky trade but the job itself is full time. Aside from the actual roasting process which is lengthy and painstaking, being an excellent coffee roaster involves sourcing the finest quality beans you can find, often involving lots of travel to far flung areas of the globe. It's not something to take on lightly. Substantial time, money and personal investment is necessary to get it right.

Time, money and personal investment are resources I have dedicated to the set-up and management of Palomino Espresso. I cannot possibly hope to be the best coffee roaster out there. Sydney has some serious quality in the roasting market. Businesses that live and breathe the whole coffee roasting process and concentrate on nothing other than sourcing, roasting and delivering first class beans, and I want my coffee shop to use those first class beans.

I felt my business would be over-burdened, with roasting to add to the list of things to perfect. As i've said before Palomino Espresso is about the whole experience. Therefore my 'list' already includes yummy homemade food, friendly welcoming service, exceptional coffee made by skilled barista's and all in comfortable, aesthetic setting.

Palomino Espresso will be a collaborative cafe whereby I source the best people, suppliers and ingredients in any given area. I want the best bakers to provide my bread, I want the freshest fruit and veg from the markets to use in my menu and I want only the finest most passionate roasters to supply Palomino Espresso with its beans.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the guys that do roast their beans in house. The likes of Mecca and Double Roasters consistently produce amazing coffee and I rate them both highly (see top 5 Sydney cafes). But for my coffee shop as a single owner and wanting an emphasis on food and service as well as coffee, sourcing the best of the already top quality roasters out there is the optimum approach to bring you a chief cuppa.

Thanks for reading my little speech on this subject. Next up is a full account of my day at Morgans Handcrafted Coffee and why they are my chosen roasters!

Bun Review

Happy Easter Everyone!!

In the spirit of all things Easter I have been munching on my fair share of hot cross buns. Therefore I can think of nothing better to do today than a 'Bun Review'.

First up is Bourke Street Bakery. I strolled down here last week chasing my morning caffeine hit but after seeing the many baked delights up on offer I couldn't resist buying this beautiful hot cross bun loaf! I then proceeded to eat nothing else but this hunk of hot cross bun throughout the remainder of the day. So so good toasted with heaps of melting butter. I feel like a complete fatty right now but totally worth it. If you are currently salivating over the photos of this sexy bun, then take yourself off to Bourke Street Bakery and you can pick up one of these babies for yourself for just 6 bucks. Unfortunately my photo doesn't really do the loaf justice. You'll just to trust me, it was gooood!

Next tastlings were fresh out of the oven, individual hot cross buns from the team at Cafe Berlin. Nothing really beats bready goodness when its fresh and spongey. These beauties had more spice but less sugar than the average bun which made them dangerously moorish. I also liked the white bit which on some hot cross buns can be hard so you end up picking it off. Altogether a very yum experience.

Lastly, I noticed these buns the other day and thought they were worth a mention. Good presentation but not as tasty as you'd expect.

Join me tomorrow as I delve into a subject that I feel very strongly about and that is crucial to my business and the values behind Palomino Espresso. Its the issue of roasting and why I have decided to use an already established coffee roasters instead of roasting my own blends.