My duties as barperson included serving drinks but more worryingly I was to be responsible for making coffee In Lygon Street Melbourne a restaurant can stand or fall on its coffee reputation There followed several days of intensive coffeemaking training in which I took in more than I could ever wish to know about the cleaning and maintenance of the restaurants gleaming espresso machine I learnt too about the essential principles involved in making the perfect cup of rich frothy cappuccino By the end of the first week I had to admit that making a decent cup of coffee was not as easy as it looked and I fully expected to be banished to lowly ashtray wiping duties again Luckily my boss was a patient man Making coffee is both an art and a science he said and you need time to acquire the knack