The Arab Lorne Restaurant

The Arab coffee lounge was opened in 1956 by the brothers Graham, Alistair, and Robin Smith. The Arab was modelled on European coffee bars and its espresso machine was only the third in Victoria. It was a bohemian style coffee shop, a refuge for beatniks (the coolest thing a teenager could be called in those days) and many others who were lured in by the aroma of Italian coffee wafting into the street. Patrons often sat on large cushions on the floor at low tables. When getting nostalgic about this era, people remember the Smith’s advertisement at the Lorne theatre that announced “ Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti Ah, The ARAB”! This was all new and revolutionary in those days and it added to the growing popularity of the town with younger visitors who had become much more mobile by the late 1950s.

Dr Malcolm J. Turnbull  (not our former PM, but a historian who has documented the Australian folk music scene) described it this way:

“…a long narrow eatery, an avant-garde structure of bluestone, glass and canvas which modelled itself on European coffee bars. Its espresso machine was only the third of its kind in Victoria. Bikini-clad waitresses served cappuccino, milk-shakes, toasted sandwiches, pasta and a range of colourfully-titled desserts (the “Porgy and Bess” and “Harem Girl” sundaes among them) to Toorak surfies or to holidaying students who sprawled on cushions discussing poetry and Plato, debating world issues or listening to music (canned or live).”  

The Arab even inspired a local balladeer, Hayden Rickey, to rhyme:

This is where in ‘58
In a summertime of fun
We scattered cushions on the floor
Then sat upon our bum
This is where the action was
The coffee strong, the best
Where plans were hatched for conning birds
Then practised with much zest.
This was where the “Spinning Wheels”
Having played “Wild Colonial Club”
Relaxed by eating bowls of spag
Too weary to stand up.
I live at Lorne all year through
And write and pound the beat
I try to pass the Arab’s door
But can’t control my feet.