"Welcome to Five Senses Coffee"

It takes a lot more than guts to open a café off the main street. But Liar Liar, which opened its doors late last year in a small side street in Hawthorn, has the credentials to back the brave move. Serious (and seriously sexy) equipment, fantastic fit out and superlative staff practically guarantee its success.

Those of us who have watched Liar Liar’s evolution from the shell of an unloved art gallery cum café with a dubious colour scheme, but “good bones”, aren’t surprised that it’s become instantaneously popular with the Hawthorn locals (and not so locals). Having seen our favourite boy, Nolan Hirte, work his particular brand of magic at a variety of places over in the West, we all knew Liar Liar was going to be a hit. Nolan has a rare ability to get people enthused about making coffee and the team here are making that Synesso sing. Someone should clone the boy! But this place is about more than just Nolan (if one can ever say ‘just’ Nolan).

Partner Nathan has done an amazing job with the fit out. Not having the luxury of a huge budget, Nathan relied on experience and talent to create an amazing space with equal parts of Bohemian chic, sleek modern lines and Moroccan accents. With a communal table front and centre, and plenty of nooks for a more intimate experience the café has been embraced by everyone from the local cool kids to family groups.

The three Group Synesso (with gorgeous panel work retrofit) and Clover machine reveal the depth of passion for coffee that exists within the Liar Liar team. A purpose built bracket installed against the wall behind the counter houses multiple grinder hoppers, each filled with fresh Five Senses single origin coffees, allowing the quick change out of coffee through the grinders at the request of savvy customers. And of course there’s the custom fit vinyl mixing desk for the tunes, which is just so Nolan’s style.

The appropriately named Diamond is also a partner in this slick creation and contributes significantly to the café’s warm ambience, cruising the floor with impeccable grace and keeping the hordes happy.

“On a recent visit I was, initially, disappointed not to see Nolan behind the machine but Hannah ‘the Clover witch’ (as she is affectionately called) proceeded to blow me away with two immaculate single origin espressos, followed by a magnificent Guatemalan through the Clover that finally made me see what the Clover hype was all about,” said Shaughan.

These guys are all about the total experience, even using balloon glasses for coffee produced through the Clover. We use wine glasses in the lab to explore coffee, but I’ve never experienced it in a café environment, and it blew me away.

Liar Liar’s dedication to the art of coffee has caught the attention of many serious players; it seems not a day goes by without someone from the fraternity of specialty coffee making their way down to have a sip and say hello. No doubt these players leave with a similar sentiment to us — Liar Liar delivers.

The food has a leaning toward organic and fresh local produce without sacrificing any flavour and there are plenty of options to keep the punters happy. If only every suburb could have a local as good as Liar Liar. We can dream, can’t we?

Liar Liar: Shop 6, 769 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, (03) 9818 8863