Coffee Culture: My Six Favorite Local Cafes

Sejuiced, Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia

Overhearing delectable tidbits and juicy gossip is one of the many perks of a life spent watching the world go by. At Sejuiced, one of the original Bronte cafes, I once overheard a spectacularly glamorous woman at the next table complain about the difficulty of finding a man who wasn’t intimidated by her success. Glancing over at her flamboyant leopard skin coat and bright red lipstick, I recognized a young, self-made cosmetics Empress, whose romantic troubles were a refreshing perspective on the drawbacks to becoming someone who had “made it” in their field. All against a backdrop of palm trees with a magnificent view of the ocean rolling into Bronte beach.

Cafes Rosal and Lil, Barcelona, Spain

The Café Rosal at the end of Passeig del Born was my local for a month in Barcelona, where I never quite found a home with the local culture or people except for these momentary smiles over the counter. I loved this place, and would never have even contemplated setting foot in the more spacious, bright “Sandwich and Friends” next door. Why? Partly an emotional attachment. There is a comforting patina of age on the dark wood, all of the corners are cozy, even though the chairs aren’t the most comfortable, it feels homely. Something personal in the space, that gives it soul, is a crucial ingredient. The staff can be brusque, even rude as the infamous Marios’ waiters in Melbourne, but professional, not snobbish or unfriendly, and they need to provide efficient reliability, so that you know what kind to expect.

The gorgeous Catalan owner of Cafe Lil in Barcelona, tucked away in a side street off the Princessa Montcada, always had a twinkle in his eye, making it a treat to order the decadent hot chocolate on the menu; drinking it while perusing the arty selection of books and magazines was another. The crowd was mostly Spanish and Catalan, although it was right in the middle of the tourist area, only a few blocks from the Picasso museum, there was still the feel of a hidden treasure that you had stumbled across.