We can just imagine what the hipster-haters think of Cleveland’s. Half café, half barber shop, you can get a crew cut, a coffee and a croissant in one fell swoop here. Some may call it pretentious; we say convenient.
And before you get all up in arms about clippings in your coffee, let us stop you right there – there's a glass wall dividing barber and barista.
The café side features less of a commercial kitchen and more just a cluttered bench top. It’s not unlike you're grabbing a bite at your mate’s place who just happens to have well stocked snack cupboards and milk that isn’t off when they offer you a cuppa.
On the other side of the great divide there are two very comfy-looking leather barbers chairs where they will trim, primp and coif you to within an inch of your life. For women, a wash, cut and blow-dry will set you back $85, for men it’s $70. If you're feeling particularly Squizzy Taylor, you can get a cut throat shave for an extra $20 while you're here.
Back on the café side you’ll want to get that freshly buffed face around a chocolate croissant. Forget the firm little chocolate core of a traditional pain au chocolat. Here they stuff a plain croissant with Nutella and thin slices of banana and then chuck it on the trusty sandwich press until the outer shell is crisp and the chocolate spread inside is a melty puddle of hazelnut. Before you commit to this outrageous pastry bomb, ensure you have a Little Marionette coffee at hand to temper the sweetness.
On a baking-hot day when a flat white is the last thing you feel like there’s no better way to replenish your caffeine reserves than with an iced coffee. Here they pull you a fresh espresso shot, top it with cold milk, ice and a monster scoop of locally made vanilla bean ice cream from Gelato Cart. If coffee is not your friend, they do something very similar with Milo in its place.
The tomato and cheese toastie with smoky tomato relish is a snack-sized lava pocket. It’s just like cheesy tomato pasta, only portable. Who says you can’t have comfort food on the run?
It wouldn’t be an inner-city café without avocado on toast. Here it comes with fetta marinated with garlic and rosemary and zinged up with a little lemon zest.
Sure, they may not be the cheapest haircuts in town, but none of the food options will cost you more than a tenner. That means you can use the rest of your money on a snazzy new 'do and it’ll all just even out in the wash. Sort of.
