The definition of the word Reverence is having great respect for someone or something. In the disposable society we live in where everyone is a celebrity and social media has made the average person a critic, it’s very hard to reach our goals and receive genuine praise for the work we do. Melbourne is saturated with coffee roasters, each one trying to get a piece of the action and gain recognition for their efforts, with some like Andreas and Annie Martinu doing it because of their love of the industry and creating a memorable experience through specialty coffee and their brand Reverence. The siblings, already with years of experience between them, opened their own cafe in Ascot Vale in 2011, roasting onsite and expanding next door as they became busier, eventually having to move premises to keep up with the demand. In early 2017 they look forward to opening an even larger facility with two roasters, climate controlled green bean warehouse, cupping lab and barista training centre, taking the company into the next stage of its journey.
Everything Reverence does is about respect for the coffee and the origins of the beans themselves. The more you understand the provenance, the better the end result will be. It’s like starting a story, forgetting a few chapters and then expecting the end to make sense. What you taste in the cup is that attention to detail and possibly coffee that has been overlooked by other roasters. Andreas, who has judged barista competitions believes that if you make the effort to source individual and interesting beans and blend them well, you can come up with something amazing, like their very popular Night Vision. The current version contains beans from El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya and Papua New Guinea and while it is their punchiest blend, it is far from one dimensional.
You can taste elements of each origin as you drink the coffee and so the name Night Vision is an apt one, because while it may be dark, there is a definite sense of clarity.
Three years ago in Little Bourke Street when Nunzio Vizzini and Nicole Thomson took over an existing cafe and rebranded it as Lt. Osteria, they also had a clear picture of what they wanted to do and how to maintain the clientele without losing them to other cafes in the area. They knew serving a coffee like Night Vision would be a crowd pleaser and that Reverence as company would support them through this time of transition. Both partners came from a finance background in law and accounting, so the Martinu siblings’ attention to detail, commitment to service and sense of care was appreciated. Serving modern Australian food with an Italian touch, the coffee works perfectly and is prepared on a stunning Victoria Arduino Black Eagle custom finished in black butt veneer by Dan from Specht Design. Nunzio and Nicole also like a well constructed story, believing that if you start with a quality product, prepare it properly on good equipment and give the customer a complete experience, it’s the recipe for a happy ending.
Respect may sadly be out of fashion, but Reverence is on the scene and gaining popularity, so head to one of these places and improve your Night Vision with a cup of their coffee
Lt. Osteria – TG25 550 Bourke St, CBD (entrance on Lt. Bourke)
Dana Patisserie – 175 Carlisle St, Balaclava
Espresso 3094 – 44 Were St, Montmorency
Espresso Room – 410 High St, Northcote
Willis & Anderson – 1 Anderson St, Yarraville