Veneziano Coffee

Veneziano Coffee, originally from Melbourne (it opened there in 2000), has a sleek, industrial space for its Surry Hills outpost, which opened in April 2018. It has a striking white coffee machine, a splash of neon and plenty of polished concrete.

Specialty coffee is the hero here. The espresso bar’s wall menu features a rotating list of beans and tasting notes for guideance on selecting the right blend, whether you like yours white, black or filtered.

Veneziano sources its beans from Africa and Central and South America and serves a seasonal blend, Bond St, and a rotating selection of microlots (coffee with exceptional taste and characteristics). If you aren’t a coffee expert just tell the barista what your normal order is and the team will make a recommendation.

To keep the focus on coffee, the food offering is small, but chosen to be enjoyed alongside a fresh brew. There are pastries from Infinity Bakery and Organic Bread Bar, and doughnuts every Wednesday from Short Stop.

While the cafe operates as a daytime espresso bar out front, at the back there’s an events space that’s been designed to look like a high-end motorcycle workshop. It’s used as a training studio to run a range of Veneziano’s barista classes and programs for its wholesale partners.

There are also coffee-related educational events for the public, including cupping (tasting) classes, and talks by Veneziano’s growers and roasters. People will also have a chance to bring in their single-brew machines to learn how make better coffees.