***THIS VENUE IS NOW CLOSED***
Local &/or General is the title of a song by The Models. Not when they were in their daggy ‘Barbados’ phase but earlier on, in their edgy, urban grit phase, prior to James Freud joining. It’s a song that’s always stuck in my mind and it seemed like an appropriate title for this occasional series of reviews about very local coffee shops that I can walk to from my house. First up…
No, not ‘Hello Boys’ ala Roy & HG but Hello Garry Espresso on Skyline. Strange name huh? But I’ll bet you’ll remember it (Googlers should note the two ‘rr’s in Garry).
Hello Garry opened up just around the corner, whilst we were overseas. It’s taken forever for me to get there but finally the opportunity arose so I wandered over one Thursday morning for a coffee and a sticky beak. Hello Garry is located in a set of 1950’s style strip shops in Seven Hills that have seen the best and worst of times. In recent years, a number of businesses have tried to make a go of it but one has managed to hold on and expand. That’s a dance studio. With the dance studio comes all the yummy mummys and their little Tinkerbells as well as a bunch of giggly teen ballerinas. There’s plenty of time to fill before, during and after all those dance classes so Hello Garry opened and found itself a captive audience.
I arrived just after a class for budding swans and whilst there were tables to spare, there was a bit of a backlog of orders. My barista come cook come waitress took my order with a smile but told me there would be a bit of a wait. I sat at a table on the footpath and contented myself with the elevated view over the suburb. There was indeed a wait but eventually, my coffee arrived. The beans were Genovese brand and I have to say that after some fairly average coffees of recent times, Hello Garry’s coffee was mellow and well made.
It took a very, very long time for my avocado toast with balsamic to arrive. I had asked for it to be on Turkish rather than sourdough but the delay lay in there being only one staff member rather than in a complicated order. When my toast arrived, it was delivered by the owner, who had popped in from the Hello Garry’s big brother Hello Garry at Norman Park, to drop of some stock off. No, his name is not Garry. I’m glad he arrived when he did as those orders were really backing up. He was gone again though, a few minutes later. It was a generous serve with white balsamic on the side which, is something I’d never thought of and was a nice accompaniment.
As I left, I took my plate and cup in to help out the barista. I asked if it was always this busy and she told me ‘yes’, always on Tuesday and Thursday after dance classes and also on Saturdays. I also asked if there was anyone else who worked at the shop. ‘Only for a few hours on Saturdays’. If you have the time, I would recommend Hello Garry on Skyline, otherwise, try to time it so your visit when the swans are in training.
Helo Garry Espresso on Skyline
Shop 2/79 Oateson Skyline Drive
Seven Hills Qld 4170
http://hellogarry.weebly.com/
Open 7 days early until midday
Visited: Thursday 19th April – Brunch Service
