Ray

Ray has been an institution in Brunswick for quite some years now.  Originally set up by Mark Dundon of St Ali and Seven Seeds fame, it is a cool little place with a few small tables and one large table for communal worship of coffee.  I remember when Ray opened.  Mark was the best café owner ever.  He stood behind the coffee machine like the captain of a ship stands behind the wheel.  He surveyed his domain with a careful eye, directing his staff to tables and always delivering quickly on an order.  He recognised locals (well, he recognised me and still does if we visit him at his new establishments) and could remember what you had ordered last time.  He was often trying out a new coffee and my partner got quite a few free sample cups.

 

Ray has since changed hands.  It is still cool and groovy.  There is a bit more stencil graffiti on the walls out the front, there is a new (yarn bombed) bike rack to house the fixies, and the inside has the worn patina of a café that has served a vast number of people.  I usually order a chai when I am there.  They have recently switched from loose leaf chai to a tea bag (the fault of their tea supplier) which I am a bit sad about…but there are plenty of other loose leaf teas to choose from.

Ahh, we love Nick!

I don’t visit Ray as often as I used to.  It is hard work with a pram.  When it is quiet (not at lunch or breakfast time) I try and pop in.  It is very close to our house, and when we bought the place the fact that it was 400 metres to Ray was a huge selling point.  They are always welcoming, and do serve a ‘little coffee’ as we call a babyccino (hate the word babyccino).  The last time I actually ate at Ray I was in the very early stages of labour with my son.  I knew it was coming, someone had taken our then three year old daughter while we got down to the business of having a baby, my partner and I jumped at the opportunity to have a last supper - or last brunch as the case may have been.  We had some delicious pumpkin/fetta/rocket Turkish pide.  It was, as I knew it would be, delicious and reasonably priced.  The focus on food with a local flavour (Middle Eastern) is right up my alley.  One of the reasons I love Brunswick is the huge Middle Eastern and Turkish influence.

Last week we stopped for a cuppa at Ray, after dropping our daughter at her first day of kindergarten.  It was great to get out amongst it with only one (immobile and not yet talking) child.  We sat out the front (easier with the pram) and while we sipped our very good beverages we noticed a few small changes.

•  The council has made changes to the rules about café tables.  Ray used to have three tables attached to the front wall of their café which were shaded by the red awning.  No more.  There is outdoor seating which offers the same ply box seats as before, but with a low ply box bench as the table.  It isn’t quite the same, and would make eating with cutlery a challenge.  It is also no longer in the shade of the awning…we roasted a bit.   
• The walls out the front, and the décor inside were looking a little tired.  The external walls used to have a few stencil bombs.  Cool.  Now, it is a hash of so many bombs that you can hardly differentiate one from the other (okay, maybe I am a bit harsh).  But, they really are a bit OTT.  Inside the things that were once a drawcard, and a bit different, (like the little CCTV which showed the baristas making coffees which is still on the wall but doesn’t work) are not looking so hot.  The pieces of fabric that are framed look like they need a wash, or a complete facelift.  
•   The opening hours are shorter than they used to be (a bit sad for those who want to stop in late afternoon).  There were all sorts of rules about when the kitchen shut, and when you could only have a take away coffee.  C’mon guys!
•   There were two signs up calling the café RAYS.   One sign apologising for the moved outdoor tables ‘from RAYS’, and the other stating ‘RAYS opening hours’.  

  

  Rays??  Where is the apostrophe?!

  
  

The joy of visiting Ray!

Now…I am a teacher (so is my partner) and this addition of an S without the apostrophe is a real crime in our world.  Unless the café has changed names to Rays (like rays of sunshine), we would like to know where the apostrophe is!?  And Rays is much less cool than straight Ray.  Ray is enigmatic.  Is it a ray of light?  A man?  What?  It makes the café seem like its own entity.  Rays…hmmm, just a tad outer suburban?  Sounds like Ray own the place…and has forgotten his apostrophe.

 

Anyway.  I still like Ray.  I vaguely know one of the baristas (lovely young guy) and I still recognise many of the regulars.  But best of all, I still feel like one of the cool and groovy people who know the secret, when I step in the door.