Four Friends, Crows Nest (11th December 2013)

I was recently contacted by Polkadot PR to attend an exclusive visit of Four Friends, a boutique chocolate cafe located in Crows Nest. The deal was simple: in exchange for the experience, the public relations agency would like me to write a review on my blog. A fair compromise plus I get to check out a cafe I’ve never been to in the area. Did I mention that it involves sampling some delicious chocolates too? :) 

Several emails later, we came to an agreement on the time of my visit and though all communications were done with Polkadot PR to date, the PR folks would not be on site during my visit. Instead, I would be meeting with Four Friends cafe owners Katze Ting and Jimmy Lai who will look after me and share their story for my blog. I arrived just in time for the 12.30pm visit only to learn that the owners were running late. No matter, as that gave me time to check out the cafe at leisure, taking photographs of the beautiful creations available in store. Hand-made chocolates, macarons, breads and other sweet pastries of assorted flavours, designs and colours filled the display counter. I felt like a kid in a candy store – so many sweet delights to choose from making it very difficult to pick out just a few items. I want to try EVERYTHING! Despite being a chocolate cafe, they do serve a couple of savoury breads though the selection is not as extensive as their sweet treats. Mmm, the lingering smell of chocolate and freshly ground coffee beans are just heavenly... 

Four Friends on Holstermann St, Crows Nest

Macaron tree

Pastries, savoury and sweet breads, and cakes

Assorted handmade chocolates

Christmas themed Chocolate Pops

Colour-coded macaron chart (very handy!)

Chocolate Santas

View of the counter (section where coffee is prepared)

“Would you like to try some tea while you wait?” asked one of the lovely girls manning the shop. Chocolates are Four Friends’ primary business but they also pride themselves in serving great coffee and offer over 40 varieties of tea sourced from around the world. I wanted something refreshing and went with her recommendation of their popular Cherry Lips Green Tea.

Over 40 loose leaf tea varieties to choose from

Cherry Lips Green Tea - green tea (Camellia sinensis), thousand day red flowers (Globe Amaranth), rose, rosehips, sweet apricot kernels & jasmine

Most customers would pop in to pick up a takeaway coffee or some chocolates – I was the only customer dining in during lunchtime. I thought the cafe had only the two tables on the footpath and one in the shop for seating; it turned out there was a larger dining area on the level above. I followed the staff upstairs and settled into one of the plush purple sofas. The place gave a sense of peace and tranquility – simple in design, comfy sofas and lounge chairs (even mini ones for the kid’s corner), several magazines strewn on tables, and soft soothing music playing in the background – you could not help but immediately feel relaxed, all stress and troubles quickly forgotten. “Ah, this is nice…,” I thought to myself, sipping my tea and feeling contently happy. My tea was served in a special see-through glass teapot (you can see the contents swirling in the pot) with a beautiful china cup and saucer set, and ornate teaspoon to match. Love the refreshing Cherry Lips tea!

Four Friends menu

Upstairs dining area

Mini lounge chairs at the kid's corner

Fancy a cup of tea?

Cherry Lips Green Tea in a see-through glass teapot

Pouring my first cup of tea

I was shortly joined by Katze (pronounced ‘K-C’) who brought along a pot of tea for herself as well as a gorgeous tasting plate of selected sweet treats she calls ‘The Planet’ for me to sample. “They all look different but are still the same – sweet,” added Katze and explained that this creation was her way of representing the diversity of people, how we differ in skin colour and race but still share common values. 'The Planet' is perfect for sharing between two; she does have a version called 'Space' that caters for a larger group.

The Planet

Top to bottom, left to right: Mango macaron, Lemon tart, Orange macaron,  Sienna Strawberry, Poppy Raspberry macaron, Passion fruit

From left to right: Chocolate indulgence fondant, Popping Kitty, Vanilla, Jam tart, Rum

Over our teas (and me indulging in the tasting plate), Katze filled me in on how Four Friends was founded and shared with me life stories and values she holds dear to her heart – she was very approachable and open in our chit-chat. I learnt that Katze was originally from Hong Kong and has been living in Australia since the age of fourteen. Sydney is very much home for her and husband Jimmy, and their three young children whom they adore dearly (Jimmy didn't join us because he was keeping an eye on their baby downstairs). Whilst busy juggling their former business Cafe Sunyata in Artamon (this cafe is no longer in operation) and running the household, their lives took an unexpected turn when Katze fell very ill – she was diagnosed with scleroderma (the word is a concatenation of Greek words 'sclero' and 'derma' and translates to mean ‘hard skin’), a chronic disorder of the connective tissue of the body. A non-contagious disease, scleroderma affects mainly the skin but can cause serious damage to internal organs which can be quite disabling; Katze had both. At the same time, she also learnt that she was pregnant with her third child to which her doctor had strongly advised against keeping due to her deteriorating health. 

The pain she endured from the symptoms were insufferable – no modern day medicine could treat the scleroderma and she was not even able to carry out simple day-to-day tasks. Having my own share of injuries and illnesses, I can totally relate to her frustration and pain – I was not at all surprised when she told me she was constantly feeling negative and depressed as a result. But one day, she decided to take matters into her own hands and changed her life around. “I thought to myself, if I stay like this, I will pass on all this negative energy to my child,” she said and from that moment on, made the conscious decision to become more positive and grateful for the simple things in life. Her doctor was amazed because not only did she keep the child, her scleroderma symptoms have miraculously subsided! With newfound happiness and positive energy, this led to the creation of Four Friends last year, an avenue which Katze uses to share and spread happiness to the world.

The name and symbol of Four Friends is derived from a Buddhist legend of four harmonious animals – an elephant standing underneath a fruit tree carrying a monkey, a hare and a bird on top of each other, symbolizing interdependence despite the difference in size and strength, united as one in harmony. A staunch Buddhist, Katze wanted to share her spiritual outlook and the idea of enjoying small pleasures in life – this is clearly reflected in the thoughtful design and atmosphere of the cafe, a place she hopes will allow customers to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and relax, even if just briefly. She tells me that she sees too many 'unhappy' people everyday, including one regular customer who couldn’t even put his phone down for a second to order his morning coffee – he mouths his order, pays, grabs his takeaway coffee and is out the door, all the while talking on the phone. “That is not living life,” she added and I nodded in agreement. These days, we live such busy lives that we forget to stop and smell the roses. Her illness has made her realise that happiness is the most important thing in life and she strongly believes that the world would be a better place with less stress, less illness and less war. I concur!

The husband and wife team have years of cafe experience under their belt - Katze looks after the food side of things while Jimmy (who is also the head barista) is in charge of the beverages. Those of you who have had the pleasure of being served coffee made by Jimmy would know that he is quite the latte art master – he won 3^rd place in this year's national Pura Dairy Farmers Latte Art Championship and you can check out some of his fantastic latte art designs on the Four Friends Facebook page. Having a passion for sweet treats herself, Katze is a self-taught chocolate maker, learning the process from scratch with plenty of trial and error, constantly perfecting the craft and creating new chocolates. She enjoys playing with colours and ingredients, using only organic and natural products (no artificial sweetener or preservatives) and is a keen supporter of small businesses. The chocolate creations at Four Friends are constantly changing as Katze uses ingredients that are in season. Though friends have told her that using such high-quality products is not sustainable for business, Katze is sticking to her guns and not forgoing quality for money. I was shocked to learn that these individual chocolates range from $2 - $2.50 which is very cheap for such good quality. 

I wouldn’t normally go for a chocolate plate for dessert (let alone for lunch) as they are often too sweet and after having just two or three, I’ve had my fill; I was surprised to find myself polishing off almost everything on the tasting plate! The chocolates at Four Friends are made from organic and fair trade cacao from Belgium and because it is free of palm oil, it doesn’t leave the gluggy chocolate residue you would find with most off-the-shelf chocolates from the supermarket – these melt the moment you pop it into your mouth and leaves nothing but a clean palate. Makes me want more chocolates! Everything I sampled on 'The Planet' had a good level of sweetness (not too sweet) and each has its own unique eye-catching design, some striking in colour and taste with bursts of fruit flavours as you take a bite but none too overpowering – you can distinctly tell the treats apart. My personal favourite of the lot was the Vanilla chocolate (it was hard to pinpoint what flavour it was at first as the taste of natural vanilla bean is unfamiliar to me). “Try the Popping Kitty,” said Katze encouragingly. I had left that till last as it looked like a chunky block of milk chocolate. It was actually hollow and had popping candy on the inside – what a delightful surprise, bringing back fond childhood memories :) 

Oozing with chocolate goodness

Poppy Raspberry macaron

Orange macaron

Sienna Strawberry

Popping Kitty

Delightfully surprised to find popping candy inside the kitty!

When asked if she makes chocolates that are gluten and/or dairy free (I often keep an eye out for such goods since my in-laws are both gluten and dairy intolerant), she admitted that it is difficult to do so and further added that she herself can’t have any gluten, dairy or nuts as they were detrimental to her health. “How DO you create such wonderful chocolates when you can’t taste them yourself??” I asked in amazement and she proudly responded that she puts her trust their chef Gloria and her husband. At times, she would do the tasting herself just to make sure the flavour and consistency is right – she doesn’t sell anything she wouldn’t personally put in her mouth. In addition to in store products, Four Friends also offers services including catering for events, high tea, wedding bomboniere, gift packs as well as cooking classes and workshops for adults and kids.

Christmas creations - Belgium milk chocolate CDs

Close up of the chocolate CD

Jars of loose leaf tea

Katze was very kind to give me a little goodie bag to take home, a small box of selected of chocolates she helped me pick out as well as a jar of Pina Colada tea. I’m SO spoiled – thank you so much!

Thank you Four Friends for the goodies!

Top to bottom, left to right: Whiskey, Green Tea, Apricot Vanilla, Popping Kitty, Orange Baileys, Salted Caramel (Dark Chocolate), Vanilla, Caramel Robot

My little green man :)

Treat yourself to a visit at Four Friends and try out their delectable treats, sample one of their many teas, or check out the awesome latte art that comes with your coffee. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the cafe and I'm sure you will too! Thanks Katze and the family at Four Friends for having me today – looking forward to my next visit :)

I dined as a guest at Four Friends. Thanks Polkadot PR and Katze for inviting me to this exclusive visit of Four Friends.