The Beginning

I was a very young man who had made some rapid advancement in the corporate world, ending as sales manager for an offshoot of Ciba Geigy (the Swiss pharmaceutical giant) based in Sydney Australia. Sydney had some great traditional unpretentious cafes which had been opened by European immigrants in the 1950s.

My favourite was Bar Coluzzi in Darlinghurst near Kings Cross named after the owner who was a relatively famous Italian /Australian boxer of the same era.
The gay community in Sydney at the time was large (and still is - second only to San Francisco). I had very close friends within this community, and socialized extensively with them. A characteristic of the community were that they were much more urbane and sophisticated than the rest of us, with numerous great parties, eating out and an appreciation of period Italian coffee stops during the day. Coffee was especially the lubricant to social interaction.

I must admit I was naïve kiwi guy who had not been exposed to this essentially European style of life. I was almost afraid to enter these cafés, I didn’t really know what happened in there. I guess I expected a restaurant full deal experience rather than a coffee shop. I was introduced by friends and soon embraced the “habit” of coffee throughout the day and more important the social interaction, people watching, the buzz.

The gay community was semi-underground and absolutely outrageous which was exciting. Utterly hedonistic! I must admit I was never tempted to embrace the sexual side being a red-blooded heterosexual male. And, in light of the HIV epidemic, that was a wise choice, most of my friends of the time now being dead - but that is another topic.

The corporate world was becoming less challenging. I was successful but my heart wasn’t in it. I left my job, and because I had money put aside I allowed myself the luxury of just hanging out, mixing with artists and musicians, thinkers and people who generally weren’t tied to a 9-5 existence, as well as generally soaking up life.

I was blown away by the scale of Sydney (compared to Auckland) and the buzz, anonymity and diversity of big city life. After 6 months or so I decided to travel through Europe and then return home to NZ. No real purpose at that stage just immersing myself in whatever came along.

In France and Italy I experienced the true café culture, as Id been introduced to in Sydney but even more as part of the fabric of everyday life. I loved it, it somehow gave a real feeling of freedom. To be individual but still part of a whole. A rhythm of life based on a social experience.

I had always read widely and deeply as a youth, and caught the tail end of the anti-establishment, free thinking and action “hippy” culture. A license to think radical thoughts fuelled by music, philosophy et al. Money was in short supply but almost unnecessary, I bought my books from second hand stores for a few cents. I was exposed to deep socialist philosophy 1930s New Zealand style (the books of which people were now unloading).

Visions of Utopia where everyone was equal and the strong looked after the weak. John A Lee was my favourite, backed up by Uncle Scrim: pioneer broadcaster and Methodist minister, and Micky Savage: the first Labour Prime Minister of NZ. An egalitarian ideal. These people were genuine.

NZ at the time was becoming much more materialistic, following a worldwide trend of free market economical thought originating from the US. The free market is the only way to have balance in society, the weak look after themselves or perish (but this again is another story). This was the early 1980s. Fortunes were being made on the world stock markets, with nothing real to back it up. Pure speculation. The gap between rich and poor really started to widen. A working man was finding it harder to make ends meet ,while the yuppie could spend 5 times the average wage just on one dinner with outrageously expensive wines. A time of real excess. Sex, drink drugs etc etc.

I arrived back in NZ with an image of the café. The local hangout where all types shared the same space, all ideas were respected, and we could realize we were all the same - enjoying diversity rather than running away from it and keeping our city architectural heritage intact bearing in mind the richness it could offer.

So, with no knowledge of the food trade, no knowledge of running a business, and no money to invest to speak of, in 1982 I opened the DKD café in central Auckland. I believed people would embrace the café concept ,and there would be one on every corner.

In 2007 cafes have spread throughout the country, we are utterly addicted to coffee, but have we embraced the culture?

Right, enough for now – will post more soon. Please drop me a line with any shared experiences or comments – I’d love to hear them.