ST ALI DESCENDS UPON UK

St Ali London:

27 Clerkenwell Road, London

The Melbourne-based roaster and café owned by impresario Salvatore Malatesta, is going worldwide. To ensure the quality coffee keeps flowing, St Ali has imported the UK’s first Slayer espresso machine, is importing and roasting its own beans and is developing a Barista Certification Programme to educate and test baristas eager to develop their skills. The 2,522 square foot venue will also be acquiring a late night license to cater for restaurant patrons and live events. Tim Cooke, an Aussie industrial designer based in the UK, designed the fitout as part of his company Long Black Ltd. And Paul Jewson, who was previously cooking up amazing dishes at Outpost has moved back to the UK to head up the kitchen, with input from St Ali’s head chef Ben Cooper. Tim Styles will be heading up operations, another Aussie ex-pat, who began his career at St Ali when it first opened, before working for Intelligentsia in the US and Square Mile coffee roasters in the UK before returning to the fold. Phew, it’s an ex-pat invasion. Next to come is the Sensory Lab, the experiment-al coffee lab that first opened at the entrance to Melbourne’s David Jones.