A REJUVENATED STREET

Cafe Rathdowne, on the corner of McPherson Street has probably served me and my friends more than any other cafe in Carlton. It was once simply a corner milk bar, then it slowly converted itself into a milk bar that also sold coffee until finally it became a fully-fledged cafe, selling cold and hot food for breakfast and lunch.
One of our most popular coffee spots in Rathdowne Street is The Carlton Paragon, just across the road from The wonderful Carlton Library.

Here are paintings of the Kent Hotel. On the north east corner of Curtain Street and facing Curtain Square, with its old strong trees, The Kent has become a popular spot particularly its outside tables. The next two pictures show Bagatelles, on the south west corner of Curtain Street, where is is possible to drink in not only the coffee but also the north sun which streams in through the large windows on Curtain Street.



When I first drove along Rathdowne street, Carlton fifty years ago, it was a wide, rather bleak street, with a number of shops that were either empty or used as residences with covered up front windows.
What a transformation has taken place befiore our eyes since we came to live here in 1965.