Simply put, the latest trend is to revive the old. Harking back to some authentic period where a 'craft' was taken seriously, or tapping into a genuine format from a different time or place, the effect is the same – manufactured sincerity. The trend has been observable beyond the bar scene, cafes especially are following a similar pattern – hence I keep the term as general 'hospitality'. The bar scene seems to have an infatuation with the 1920s or thereabouts; perhaps echoing fashion's throwback to ties and tweed and 'simpler times'. There seems to be a necessity for new spaces to make you feel out of place because you are not a part of the history that they are embodying. It's easy to forget that this secret, underground, jamboree is not the actual period they are representing.
I recently visited a bar that took its name from the Taxidermy that has previously existed in the shop space. Instead of naming themselves after the owner or a separate geographical feature, they had aligned themselves with the history of their property. Standing shoulder to shoulder to the past, they inherited some legitimacy that can only come with history.
The caf̩ scene has taken a Central American focus. With the emerging 'specialty coffee' scene in Sydney Рthat, like so many other things, is slowly catching up with Melbourne Рthe gulf between producer and product has shrunk. Any genuine barista will know that 'coffee authenticity' is a story that is primarily told outside the caf̩. The way you communicate legitimacy is by showing your awareness of the origin of your product. Caf̩s have taken this beyond informed staff and high quality commodities and have also introduced a d̩cor aspect that illustrates this connection. Wooden boards, mismatching plates, a Central American food menu and hessian everything, it's meant to communicate allegiance with their origins and therefore sincerity.
But what does all of this amount to, this frantic reaching into the past to validate the present, this reinventing of the old and displacing the new? I said that it went back to our psychology, but I think it goes further back still, to our spirituality. We are not people who have ever properly come to terms with our relative insignificance, we have not built a society that peacefully accepts its own mortality. In this culture of trying to find a place that has significant history and authenticity, we are reaching for something beyond ourselves. This shift to promoting and maintaining history allows us to control our own worlds and be a part of something bigger, something lasting, with legs and a story to tell. This is what Moses sings about when he calls out to God, saying, "before the mountains were born for you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God". He knows that God has the permanence he yearns for, he knows that he himself is dust by comparison, so he implores God to "establish the work of our hands for usâ€" yes, establish the work of our hands". Without someone with true capital validating you, you are lost to the vapours of trend.
This transition in the hospitality industry has definitely responded to the demands of society. It is a symptom of a deep longing to control and to endure. But there is only one place where permanence is found and only one place that the works of our hands and the contents of our lives can be established. To know and be known by the everlasting God satisfies our searching hearts and makes us both old and new.
Sam Manchester is a Sociology graduate from The University of Sydney, currently working in a cafe and studying theology.
Sam's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/sam-manchester.html