UPDATED
Please note – WHAT”S WRITTEN BELOW NO LONGER APPLIES! I AM HAPPY TO REPORT THAT LEO AND THE ORIGINAL TEAM ARE NOW BACK AND CUT PAW PAW IS BACK TO WHAT IT WAS.
I’m going to leave this post here because it’s a good lesson in what not to do to a café when you take it over but, I say again, IT NO LONGER APPLIES.
END OF UPDATE
It’s always a shame when one of your favourite places loses the plot and sadly that’s what has happened with Cut Paw Paw in Yarraville.
Cut Paw Paw was never at the cutting edge of cool, but it was a friendly place with great staff who knew you and always made a good coffee. All this began to go down hill a few months ago when one of the owners left and, I think, the other cut back his involvement. My regular weekend gal, the wonderful Tracey, who was only young yet seemed to know more about running a cafe than many owners two or three times her age, has finished secondary school and disappeared too.
I had to run in to Yarraville this morning to take some photos so I thought I’d pick up a couple of coffees to take home. I walked through the door to be assaulted by Eminem (I can’t believe I had to ask Rae how to spell that! How old am I?) at full volume. The, yet another, new face was hunched over the counter reading the paper and only looked up when I was standing right in front of her. The cafe was empty at 8:30, in ‘the good ole days’ it would have been half full by this time. I ordered two lattes and it was all I could do not to yell out ‘Stop’ or leap over the counter and take over as she scalded the milk and then tried to create some froth. The coffee that went in to the cups was weak with no crema. As Mr M blared about his bitches she poured the burnt milk onto the coffee and scooped out two scummy pieces of ‘froth’ to make it a latte.
I was torn as to whether to say something or not. Why would you leave someone in charge of your coffee machine who obviously has no idea on how to make coffee? It’s a cafe – coffee is one of your main products. Would you put someone who doesn’t know how to cook in charge of your kitchen? Why would you let your late teens staff play their choice of music at when your customers are predominantly 30-50 and at a volume you couldn’t talk over? Why, if you’re running this place, would you leave a teenager in charge on one of your most important trading days?
If I had have seen the guy who I think is in charge now I would have had a chat to him. As it is I took the dross she served, paid my $5 and walked out the door for what is most likely the last time.
UPDATED
Please note – WHAT”S WRITTEN ABOVE NO LONGER APPLIES! I AM HAPPY TO REPORT THAT LEO AND THE ORIGINAL TEAM ARE NOW BACK AND CUT PAW PAW IS BACK TO WHAT IT WAS
I’m going to leave this post here because it’s a good lesson in what not to do to a café when you take it over but, I say again, IT NO LONGER APPLIES.
END OF UPDATE