After more than 12 months of planning, fitting out and decorating, Scope café has opened its doors in Rotorua.  Customers numbers are growing daily as the word gets out about this quirky, new wild-food inspired café.  Scope is the brain child of Dana Symons and Steven Greer and their focus is on offering ‘the best scene with the best service to create the best experience in the area’.  Their game-inspired menu reinforces the café’s slogan ‘Wild about flavour’ — and signature dishes like wild pork sliders and venison burgers are flying out the door.

With 17 years’ experience in hospitality behind her, Dana understands the importance of creating an environment that makes customers want to come back with their friends.  Serving great coffee is a vital part of this picture.

“I only want to work with the best,” said Dana.  “We’ve spent months playing around with the menu – and we’re still fine-tuning it.  As far as coffee is concerned, Chris White from Altura knows all the answers.  His years of experience and the quality of the coffee speak for themselves.”

Learning from a world-class expert

Dana’s first encounter with Chris was as a judge at the National Barista Champs in the early 2000’s where she was competing.  Dana then travelled to Tokyo in 2007 with Team New Zealand for the World Barista Champs where Chris was at the helm as head judge – and her respect his coffee expertise grew.  “I’ve admired Chris professionally for most of my career,” said Dana.  “So I knew that there was only one coffee to serve in my own café.”

“I only want to work with the best,” said Dana.  “We’ve spent months playing around with the menu – and we’re still fine-tuning it.  As far as coffee is concerned, Chris knows all the answers.  His years of experience and the quality of Altura coffee speak for themselves.”

Dana went up to meet Altura at the Auckland Coffee Festival last year and sealed the deal.  From that moment on, Scope café has had Chris White in its corner, offering advice, support and training.  Steve and Dana spent a full day with Altura’s top barista trainer at the company’s Auckland base — mostly for Steve to upskill and learn some of the secrets of making truly great coffee.

Passion is a word that’s often overused but never over-rated — and it’s something Dana and Chris both share when it comes to selecting, roasting and serving great coffee.