Each morning, Rocky Veneziano starts his day sitting at the Veneziano café bar in Richmond. He asks the baristas how they are. He shakes the hands of customers. He makes a menu recommendation, and enjoys an espresso.
From Rocky’s early days working in hospitality, he has seen the benefit of being approachable, and the relationships that form from simply being accessible.
“Prior to starting Veneziano, I worked in cafés and noticed that every time a customer asked to speak with the owner, they were never around,” Rocky says.
“Just the other day I was sitting downstairs when a customer came up to me, asked if I was Rocky Veneziano, and if he could shake my hand. Another customer from England was amazed by the café. He messaged all his friends back home and bought every coffee on the menu. At the end of our chat, he asked what my surname was and looked dumfounded at my response. ‘But that’s the name of the café’ he said.”
