Behind the ‘spros #3 Luke Arnold Telegram Coffee

We met Luke Arnold of the Telegram cafe at the break of dawn—and if that sounds dramatic to you, wait for it: the Telegram cafe is essentially a huge box that opens and closes by the turn of a 145-year-old wheel!

The cafe is located in the recently refurbished State Buildings in Perth CBD since 2015 and Luke admits that he “hopes it will stay there forever!”

Telegram boasts other things that can be counted in century-terms—Luke himself has a quarter of a century experience in the hospitality and coffee sectors. But while Telegram might appear firmly rooted in time, its essence speaks of the future of the coffee scene. For example, they roast all their coffee beans in the shared coffee roaster, Modern Coffee. Luke sources only sustainable coffee to serve his customers. In terms of priorities, sustainability and consistency in branding seem to be on the top of the list.

In a way Telegram mirrors the Australian coffee scene itself—with its roots in the Viennese coffeehouses and its eye on the American specialty coffee industry, creating a unique blend of “third wave” cafes and customers.

When you see places like Telegram, you realise how far Australians have come from drinking boiled coffee with a pinch of mustard!

Where does Luke get his inspiration from? The answer suits him and the place well—“From here. There are some pretty cool things going on around”—simple, respectful and locally sourced!

The sun is up, people start coming in. Luke knows everyone by their name, from the delivery drivers to the regulars. He greets them warmly as we chat about cafes and their place in the community.

Cafes, along with bookstores and barber shops, are considered “good places”—a place for entertainment, for the community to come together and overcome problems, or simply to find their own place in a whole. And if cafes are considered “good places”, then the Telegram is definitely also a “cool place”—it’s where politicians, judges, lawyers and celebrities converge to get their cup of coffee—and there’s nothing cooler than running into Margot Robbie in the morning!

We ask Luke what does he think of LMTU and how many customers chose it to start their day. It turns out that even if it’s not his beverage of choice, a pleasing 15% will get their coffee the Perthian way!

We finish up with what worries us the most—does Luke, perhaps, know Hugh?

He doesn’t, but he knows someone who does.

And so, with the turn of a wheel, we are one step closer to our goal!