Fitzie's Cafe
By Maritime Union of Australia
It was the late Charlie Fitzgibbon, who led the successful campaign
for industry superannuation in the sixties when he was General
Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation.
It was also Charlie
we have to thank for the Credit Union. Charlie Fitzgibbon died
in January this year and the union has honoured him by naming
the new cafe in the old seafarers' pick-up rooms outlawed by Reith
as 'Fitzies'. It's leased by Sam Cevikoz and his brother Ali.
Sam is, a former metalworker and actor, who is a fully qualified
barista (coffee machine operator) and distributor for Amanti Coffee,
a Melbourne based company importing from a dozen countries including
Kenya, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe Timor and Tanzania..
"The coffee you get here has been roasted in Melbourne in the
last 48 hours," Sam says proudly. "The pasta we serve is hand
made here in Sydney at 4 am each morning. And any food left at
the end of the day we give to Matthew Talbot Hostel for Sydney's
homeless. The smiles on their faces are like money in my pocket."
Managing the cafe is Ben Nikolovski, formerly from Sydney's Cafe
Dumondi, with Jennifer Vo, also a top Sydney barista on hand at
the counter.
Fitzies has been granted a full license, with beer, wine and spirits
available from mid-September. It will also open Friday Saturday
and Sunday nights.
The coffee is good and so too the pizzas, salads soups, gourmet
pies, frittata and rissoto slices, 80 per cent of which are made
on the premises fresh each morning, selling for around $5 takeaway
and $7 to eat in.
Fitzies will be officially launched in October during National
Council, the same time as the opening a one stop shop for the
Virtual Communities subsidised IBM computer packages, the Members
Equity workers bank, the SERF and SRF super funds.
So next time you drop in to the Credit Union or to see your branch
officials, stop in at Fitzies. Their business is helping the Maritime
Union keep afloat.
|
