Introduce yourself – Tell us a little bit about yourself, your position with the café + your background
I’m Jackie, the main barista at Dear Jane and I’ve been here since day 1! Have been in the hospo & coffee industry for 7+ years now and still learning something new every other day. I studied Japanese, linguistics and language teaching and worked in the field for a couple years but once I got into coffee, I’ve never looked back. Coffee is the most universal language.
Can you tell us a bit about the vision behind Dear Jane?
Chloe’s vision for this cafe was for it to grow with the community. She meant it quite literally, mentoring me with some of Auckland’s best baristas and not only did my coffee skills grow, our relationship with the neighbourhood grew too. Love being in Mt Albert, our neighbours are the friendliest and coolest I reckon.
What can people expect to experience when they come to Dear Jane? And is there anything distinct/unique to the café, or that the café is known for, or you would like it to be known for?
We take pride in our hardworking, tight-knitted, fun-loving team. Regulars will often hear us laughing at each other’s weird episodes and I think that positive vibe can be felt by customers as well. Good coffee and food is a given of course! All our cabinet food is made in-house and our croissants always fly out the door.
Why do you use The Alternative?
We feel like we’ve used The Alt. Milks forever, it’s been a hit since day 1 – we’ve had customers tell us that it’s the best almond milk they’ve ever had or some checking that it’s The Alternative before taking their alternative milk pick. We love how it doesn’t overpower the coffee because it balances well with the coffee.
Have you noticed a shift towards plant-based from your customers?
Yes, we like to offer our dairy drinking customers the option of plant-based milks and more often than not they’re converted. Slow and steady change is definitely in the air
What do you like about being in the cafe/coffee industry as a local café?
The same reason why I got into coffee really, with something so simple yet complex as coffee, we play a small (sometimes big) part of our neighbourhood’s daily lives. Whether it’s a coffee stop on their way to work or 3 rounds of coffees with their team at the cafe, we love giving everyone a coffee fix to better their day.
Are there any sustainability initiatives Dear Jane take part in?
We have locals who love to garden so we like to bag up our coffee grounds so they can be reused rather than just being thrown away.
What is your go-to coffee order for yourself or to make?
Depends on the day but I like to alternate between 3, a long black, an almond or oat tulip flat white