The flowers are fresh, the coffee is hot and the banter is rolling. At Barrel One Sydney, a coffee-roaster-cum-cafe, that’s about all it takes.
Daniel Agapiou had been in the coffee game for a while before he decided to open his own cafe, in September 2017. The space ? parked in Brookvale, in the industrial northern beaches pocket of Sydney ? functions (and has for three years) as the dispatch centre for the roastery; the scales, bags, and barrels of beans strewn throughout are proof of that. Agapiou didn’t want to mess too much with that vibe, aiming to create an accessible space where coffee (single origin, drip, espresso blends, filter) is expertly crafted and velvety milk poured with aplomb. “Kitchen” is a generous term for the culinary area ? it’s more of an assembly line of Brooklyn Boy bagels, Butter Boy pastries, and toasties, with recipes created by Melbourne’s Maker & Monger (including a pastrami sandwich, made with meat from a Manly diner). Barista Reggie and co-owner Samuel Graham complete the team. The crowd is a mixture of local entrepreneurs, trades- and craftspeople, and young professionals. They mingle in the cavernous white warehouse, designed by Agapiou and his mate Taylor Heywood of Taylor Made Design. The aesthetic channels Agapiou’s soul-searching trip to New York in 2017, where he visited coffee pals and their roastery-cafes in Brooklyn and Williamsburg. (Think exposed insulation, metal work, and an unir...