Cleveland’s Salon

Before I got here, I expected a lot from this place for my much needed haircut. Unfortunately as much as I wanted to give this place a 5-​star for the nice ambiance and free bottle of beer. The haircut just wasn’t up to the standard that I was looking forward to. Not saying that it’s a bad haircut, it was not bad. Just not as good as what I was expecting. But the hairdresser was a fine lady, friendly and nice to talk to. I wouldn’t blame it as it was the first haircut there maybe I picked one that didn’t suit me.
I will definitely give it a second try and hopefully I’ll be able to give them a 5-​star rating, and of course getting a 5-​star haircut as well from them.

I recently stopped by Cleveland’s for a Unilocal Elite event; in typical fashion, I left with a big smile on my face, having been on the receiving end of a most pleasurable (and public, which was part of the thrill) cupping and shaving. Needless to say, Pat and Harry, proprietors of the joint, excel at servicing their clients. My only regret is the hot mess I left on the floor of their tidy space, but these things are hard to avoid when you’ve been drinking and are having a good time.
Don’t let the flannel shirts and fuschia-​colored pants fool you. The hipster vibe may be real, but this place has the chops to back up its subtle we’re-better-than-everyone-else ‘tude. If you get that feeling, it’s because it’s true. On the styling side, Pat’s got a pedigree that found its roots in the storied salons of London and Paris. Harry’s no slouch, either. He’s been honing the art of the perfectly roasted coffee bean at Little Marionette (where they now get their beans) for several years, and then some.
I don’t think anyone was expecting Unilocalers to get actual haircuts at Elite events. We’re bad-​ass, but we’re pseudo-​cops, at best. The badge, while shiny, only gets you so far. Still, when I brazenly asked Pat if he would give me a touch-​up, he graciously put down his beer and agreed to a trim. «A buzz while buzzed» — not everyone can pull this off, mind you, much less do a fantastic job, but Pat’s a consummate professional with hands of Scissorhandian gold. Somewhere on the Unilocal website are the photos to prove it.
Still high from the climax only a great haircut can provide, I stumbled over for a post-​coi (ffured) coffee. Harry makes a mean soy cap, no easy feat considering so many baristas get the balance of coffee and steamed soy milk wrong. Putting in the cocoa powder before pouring the coffee, so it actually disperses throughout instead of gathering on the sides? Genius. I also hear they’re brainstorming some savories to add to their existing menu of sweet pastries and takeaways. The space is small, but as they say, size doesn’t matter; it’s what you do with what you’ve got that counts.

I watched this place being renovated, before it opened (both on the street, and via Instagram). But it was still hard to tell precisely what it was going to be. Salon or Saloon? Hair dresser or old man’s barbershop? Café or small-​bar?
Cleveland’s Salon & Café has settled on the hipster notion that when you join something old-​timey with bloody good coffee, then the punters will come. And they do. Also, nothing is what it seems in hipsterland. An old barber masquerading as a café? Or a café doing a good impression of being a barbershop? Who cares? It’s all good.
If you don’t mind a bit of a functional mash-​up, it’s well worth a visit — either for Harry’s supremely good coffee, or for an excellent rockabilly haircut. Or both.
There’s not a huge amount of space in this joint, so maybe don’t bring your entire extended family. It’s actually quite a nice place to hang out solo, and many do.
Harry is eminently gracious as a barista and host — introducing himself and making thoroughly smooth, rich coffee. He was so nice, I forgot to introduce myself back. Will have to make amends next time.
PS — they have fabulous comestibles too — it varies depending on the day, but everything as a fresh and casual Italian vibe.

And BAM, we’re back to the old school, when men were men and shirts were flannel and moustaches were gloriously bushy yet impeccably ‘cured.
Cleveland’s reimagines the Golden Age of Man, an age of enlightenment and reason and cut-​throat razors wielded with artful precision and coffee, strong coffee, brewed right there while you wait and sun streaming in through the window and relaxed informed chat instead of awkward small talk and a friendly community vibe and old leather Chesterfields and tiles and wood instead of gleaming chrome and the harsh impersonality of stainless steel. By gum, this is a place I want to hang out at on a regular basis.
Continuing Sydney’s cultural renaissance, the boys at Cleveland’s Salon quit their day jobs and have created a mad sick little den right next to the Norfolk on Cleveland St. Part coffee joint and part barbershop, Cleveland’s has landed the magic formula where it becomes way more than the sum of its parts. Pat Casey (of Pimps & Pinups London and Rock Hair Paris) is on the shears, and Harry Levy (ex Little Marionette, Porteno and Blackstar) waves the tamping wand. They’re just proper stand-​up guys, these two: they love what they do and it shows, it really does.
Come play chess and suck on a flat white while you wait for your haircut in super vintage barber chairs — the really big, heavy, comfy ones that cup your ass lovingly like the hands of a big, gay, gentle giant, chairs you never want to get out of — that they found on eBay or somewhere. It’s golden.