And when anyone asks if they can have a batch brew (percolator) coffee with cream on the side, Hirte says, “Yeah, you can, but have you had a flat white?”

The cappuccino comes with chocolate dust on top. The long black is called a long black, not an Americano. In line with Proud Mary’s mission to bring something different to Portland, Hirte’s kept the coffee all-Australian. I think I need a minute to look through.’” We have freshly squeezed juice, smoothies, milkshakes, kombucha, specialty tea, specialty coffee and we roast everything in-house.’ You can just see them very quickly get overwhelmed and go, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. “I sit them down and say, ‘Welcome to Proud Mary, is it your first time? Here’s the menu, on this side are all the drinks. “It’s totally blowing people’s minds,” he says. Hirte says this makes many people uncomfortable at first: “They feel kind of bad, like they’ve walked into a restaurant when they just want a coffee.” He also built the stools himself – based on a more rudimentary IKEA design – with maple and walnut wood, and leather to make them more durable and attractive.Īs at any cafe in Melbourne, customers are greeted as they walk in, then offered a table. “It’s got our personality in it,” he says. Hirte and his dad designed and built the place with help from a friend, employing red brick, concrete, timber and naked cement sheet. Proud Mary joined what has become a well-publicised movement in June, opening its first American outpost in a former garage in Alberta, a neighbourhood in Portland’s northeast.

It’s in this environment that friendly Australian cafes such as Bluestone Lane in New York, Paramount Coffee Project in LA and Common Room Roasters in California are flourishing. And the menus, they can be a little … underwhelming. At most coffee shops, you line up to place your order, take your own coffee or food to the table and clear it when you’re done. It’s hard to believe, but in the land of Walmart greeters and tip-driven restaurants, American cafes can be somewhat impersonal.

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