MILAN – We went virtually all the way to the centre of Vienna where a new coffee shop, whose inauguration has been recently announced, is working at full capacity with the help of a Black Eagle Victoria Arduino that dispenses coffee for various micro-roasters and to the satisfaction of the palates of the many customers who leave more than positive reviews. In Mariahilf, in the sixth district of Vienna, The Good Coffee Society has opened its doors, a small but good coffee shop, a project by Riccardo Grigoletto and his partner Daniel Kornfeld.
We spoke to the former to talk about this new venture by an Italian abroad, in Austria, where the market offers different possibilities and challenges compared to Italy.
Grigoletto, a first point-blank question: why Austria, and why now?
“I’ve always loved travelling. I lived 10 years in Australia, in Melbourne, where I continued my studies in catering, with a contract that ties in with a visa. Here I got to know the concept of the Australian café, which combines brunch and fine dining.
So I started with the evening part, then moved to the morning part as general manager: we worked with a three-group Sinesso and two permanent baristas. I discovered another world compared to Italy: every suburb is a microroaster. I then decided to return to Europe in 2019.
I was only in Italy for four months, but I found it hard to stay in Treviso. So I took the opportunity to work for Goppion Caffè but in Austria, in their showroom together with my colleague and partner.
After a year, I decided to return home, also thanks to Covid, to be near my parents. I was hired in Italy, but the idea of opening a café was already germinating in both me and my partner, who stayed in Vienna. Passion guided us despite the many cons: so we looked for a place and came up with the concept.
In Vienna it was difficult to find a location that represented the right compromise between location and price. So we went ahead with our concept, even though we had already noticed several times that the specialty coffee community is not too inclusive.
I’ve always found that there are barriers: a person who has never had a specialty coffee in his life and enters such a specialty coffee shop, often doesn’t find the possibility of establishing a real dialogue with a barista who may approach with a too technical discourse.
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