Aussie Chic

As someone who was born in Sydney, Australia, in the 1930s I feel impelled to reply to the April 13 article on Australia(“Grill Me Kangaroo Down, Sport”), in particular to: “In the 1970s the term Australian fine dining was an oxymoron. In only top hotels or in mum-and-pop-run Italian cafes could you even find coffee that wasn’t instant. Dining out was a quick trip to the pub for a steak and potatoes.”

I think back with nostalgia to the 1950s and the advent of expresso coffee shops becoming the rage in both Sydney and Melbourne. So stupendous was their success that they remain a part of the Aussie lifestyle. Expresso coffee was served, I recall, with the most delectable minuscule triangles of wafer-thin bread stuffed with a variety of mouthwatering fillings, and then there were coffee shops in the grand manner like “George’s” of Double Bay, Sydney, where you were seated in ritzy decor to sip coffee from around the world.

GWNE HENRI

Camarillo