The Pear Tree Cafe

There’s a cute little café, right along the ocean in a small town on the coast of Australia. It is a hidden town that not many know of yet it is famous in its own regards. Torquay, the place for lost souls, where searching and love can always be found. I know because, I have been there and it was the most magical place I had ever known. Mind you, I have swam in Asian oceans where plankton light up the darkest waters like the sparkles of the night sky filled with twinkling starts, and depths of ship wrecked ruins where only the most mysterious fish can be found while scuba diving the most adventurous hours. But in Torquay, there is a sweet ocean beach where the water is clean, and everything can be seen. There are waves that crash at night bringing peaceful sounds that can you put you to sleep. A blanketed beach of the most typical sand, the only place in the world where you could have it all to yourself for an entire morning or afternoon. The trees line up in a row , of pine and big leafed, as if traveling through the mountains on a winter and summer’s day. It is the only place in the world I have ever been where walking around town in the night is considered meditative and safe.

And right down the main street as you pass through the olden times in current days, will you find a butcher shop, the post office, the fresh produce market grown by local farms, the book shop where the lady walks home each day after locking up and the books glow and pop out. It is the only place where the news shop has newspapers freshly delivered to your door soon after printing and kangaroos jump at 4 in the morning, as tall as the windows of your car. I know because I have lived it.

At the end of the road is a little café called The Pear Tree. Where the boys and girls serve coffee and treats, the Italian owner cooks his most famous secret Italian dishes and lives down the street. He walks to work every morning, opening the double doors to an all wooden floored shop that he has owned his entire life. Right along the coast. You will find fresh seafood and pasta, gourmet breakfast and oven fired pizza on the menu, freshly made European-Australian styled coffees: lattes, cappuccinos, milkshakes and more. Each seat outside sits next to a tree with a shaded umbrella on cobble stone walk way perfectly quaint for watching shoppers and passer-byers. Just walk right on in, up to the counter and say “Hi.” You will surely be greeted by a smiling barista or hard working “hi” as the hurry to greet you. Italo will be in the kitchen, with a chef’s white apron, doing all the work on his own, cleaning the kitchen and orders lined up to make. You will be served with a smile on a sunny beach day, as the regulars who live there wave at the windows as they walk by. There are dogs on leashes waiting to be pet, a bowl of water right next to where they sit. As you go to the side, you’ll see flowers in bloom, and fresh herbed gardens where a patio is swooned. There might by lovers, or friends gathered near, cheering with wine glasses, or beers. This is where the connoisseur philosophisez and college students debate and make a stance, where girls talk about boyfriends and heartbreak heals. This is where the perfect guy takes his perfect girl, and dines her in courtship. Where the musicians play on Sundays and the poets share their words. On Thursdays the spiritual meet about religion, and late at night the lonely find peace and company, on the darkest of nights. The paths are light with old fashion lamp lit street, where gentlemen open doors and hold hands. You will find Belle from Beauty and the Beast, walking with a book in her hands and fresh bread filling air. I know, I have lived it , I was here, I was there.

Bonjour, Bonjour, a fairy tale made real. There is a little café, on the coast, called the Pear Tree. So when you stop in and order your treat, make sure to let them know I said “Hi,” I am happy now. They will ask who I am , and I assure you they’ll know, when you mention my name, they’ll say “Oh!” She was here, and it’s true, all the people you will meet. Whether the book was written of them, or out the book is where they stepped. If you’re searching , or looking, or ready to go, the place to stop in is just on the coast.

To all of my friends and family at the Pear Tree, thank you for the best years of my café life. For all of the inspiration from my coworkers, Torquay nights, love and friendship, philosophizing and a dream come true. I thank you with all of my heart from the states to AU. To anyone who travels, please treat my people well. They are kind, they are humble, they live right on the coast. Say hi, to Italo.