Brewed to perfection

DRAGONFLY Cafe at Lismore has been named the best hospitality venue of its kind in northern NSW in the 2024 Love My Café Awards.

The cafe beat out district winners to claim the top gong for the region in the awards, which are run by cafe community Coffee Commune.

Uncle George’s Coffee Shop at Banora Point took the title in the Tweed, Happy Days won for Byron Bay, and Cafe Boker was named the best in Ballina.

Kathryn O’Neill, who runs Dragonfly Café alongside her daughter Lillian O’Neill and chef Aaron Hughes, said she was thrilled to receive the award, which allowed her to have a celebratory party with her customers and staff.

Ms Hughes, 65, previously ran a cleaning business in The Channon and decided to buy the café after receiving an inheritance.

She opened on the first day of COVID lockdowns in March 2020.

“I had a café for five hours,” she said. “Then we had just stopped wearing masks when we had the floods and we had to start afresh.”

The café is known for its Merlo Coffee, fresh juices, homemade hash browns, and spinach and fetta muffins, which are based on a recipe passed down from the previous owner.

George Saunders and his partner Jamie opened Uncle George’s Coffee Shop in July 2021, serving Original Gangster coffee by Locale, a range or rolls, toasties and cabinet treats.

“It was a tough time to start business,” Mr Saunders said. “We really had to work hard and get creative. I am fortunate enough to have a barber shop right next door, which had a strong clientele to help support the business from the start.

“Our coffee shop has always been a place where we strive to make everyone’s day better. We want people to be walking out smiling. One of the main reasons we started this was due to not being valued as a customer at times and it leaving a sour taste in our mouths. So, we have promised we would never do that to anyone. It’s as simple as remember coffee orders and names.”