Brandon Moore’s small cafe in Morwell, a town of just under 15,000 people, is normally a peacefully slow local spot.
For the past 10 weeks, however, The Daily Cafe and Foodstore became inundated with journalists, cameramen and curious visitors hoping to score a hot coffee and breakfast before Erin Patterson’s latest day in court.
The shop unexpectedly surged in popularity during the “wild” mushroom murder trial which captivated Australia and the world.
“It’s usually pretty quiet here,” cafe owner Moore, who was born and raised in Morwell, told 9news.com.au.
“There’s not too many tourists coming through, unfortunately, it’s mostly locals and workers from around [the court].”
From late April, business was booming for the Daily Cafe, which is among the few takeaway shops in Morwell.
Its location is down the road from the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court and some old-fashioned word-of-mouth quickly made it the place everyone stopped by for early morning bite to eat and a good “cuppa joe”.
Rather than hiring more staff to keep up with the demand, Moore said the cafe was actually understaffed.
But Morwell locals are hard workers, he said, and they managed just fine.
“I remember the first couple of media people that came in,” he said.
“Then they got the word around and everyone started coming in, having a bit of brekkie then doing their live crosses in the morning.
“We had a joke and a laugh and we got through it.”
After the verdict was delivered, Moore and his team held a dinner with the media contingent to thank them for their patronage over the last few months.
Moore said he became close pals with plenty of new customers during the surreal trial, which has undoubtedly changed Morwell forever.
He shared a photo on Instagram after the event and praised them for making “this wild chapter one to remember”.
“I’m probably going to miss it all, it’s quietened down now,” Moore said.
“It’s now back to good old Morwell.”
