Thursday, January 26, 2012

Dead Man is closed today. Happy Australia Day!




We also had our Staff Party last night, hence why we won't be open today. I can assure you you wouldn't want to be served by any of these fine folk today. Thanks for all your hard work in 2011 Deadies! We've got a great team, who we're stoked to have. 

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

This is DEAD MAN ESPRESSO, 

In the early 1830s, this land was a swamp. A stain on the pristine bay.
In the 1840s, it was a muddy track between the fledgling commerce of Flinders Street and the regal mansions of South Yarra. A written off corner of an inviting, thriving port city. 
In the 1850s, boatloads of immigrants flooded into Melbourne seeking their fortune on the goldfields. Wide eyed dreamers and crooks on the lam, the desperate and the enterprising and the beaten, thrown together cheek by jowl into a hostile land.
Most of them never made it out of the city. Dreams of a quick fortune were no match for the grim reality of the goldfields and the Victorian bush. Desperate and homeless, they set down the only place there was land left.
Lost souls pegged out their plot and erected a tent in the swamp. Almost overnight sprang up a sprawling, ramshackle suburb of canvas and mud. It stank of death and despair. They called it Canvas Town.
It was harsh. It was brutal. Yet there was a strange pride in the people of Canvas Town – despite all the odds, life hadn’t beaten them. Not completely. At the end of the world these settlers had made something out of nothing.
By the late-1850s, Canvas Town had been cleaned up. Streets started taking shape, land was divided and sold, and settlers built cottages and terraces.
But for a few brief years, South Melbourne was known by a different name – a roughshod graveyard of broken dreams, hopeless days and desperate measures.

Dead Man Espresso sits on what was once the heart of Canvas Town. Like those early settlers, we're damn proud of our little plot of Melbourne. We believe in building something.
We use what we can from nearby – local suppliers Warialda Beef, Istra Smallgoods and Hook & Spoon Mutton; herbs from the garden on the roof; seasonal Victorian produce, honey from our rooftop beehive.
And the coffee? Using the best beans from the best roasters around is a luxury the founding ancestors couldn't have dreamed of. But we think they would have approved...

Friday, January 20, 2012




We're very fortunate at Dead Man to be allowed to grow a few veggies and herbs on the roof of the building. Good landlord! Nice to be supported by an owner who gets what we're trying to do. Nothing to grandiose, just trying to grow some stuff and trying to understand seasonality. Recently we've had bucket loads of different types of tomatoes which we use in our very popular brekky item... The Panmolle. 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012






Dead Man has been licensed for a little while now stocking a nice array of craft beer from Australia, New Zealand & Europe with wines from Prince Wine Store. We are also open later on Friday nights till at least 9:30pm. So if you feel like a good brew after work, be it beer or coffee, come perch yourself on the balcony and soak up the views. 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Sunday, January 8, 2012