I had already heard about this place twice on my first week in Melbourne. 

You have to go here, said P, as he wrote down a list of all the good coffee places I must visit.

Good, good, coffee, said A, whose husband calls her a coffee snob. 

So, I did. 

There are tiny tables set for loners like me. I had a view of other loners in front of me, as well as the olive tree inside the sunlit room out the back.

On one side was the coffee lab. I wanted filter coffee, but the kind I chose originally weren't available at the time. Ah well. I went for another type of blend, iced. A platter of bagel and salmon and breakfast radish for lunch. I wasn't that hungry, but had been craving bagels for some time. I probably ate too slowly for the waiters and the growing queue, but enjoyed savouring little bites as I scribbled away on my notebook. 

Auction Rooms

103-107 Errol St

North Melbourne, VIC 3051