Saint Larry Cafe

A fitting ode to Lawrence, the Patron Saint of Cooks and Librarians, Saint Larry is open at the sparkly new Perth City Library. Bordered by the beautifully refurbished State Buildings and St George’s Cathedral, Saint Larry ain’t your usual library fare. It’s lively and fun, fast and fresh, with reliably good coffee, a simple but punchy menu and a range of vistas on offer; dine amongst the books, on an outside deckchair, lay a borrowed picnic rug on the grass of Cathedral Square, or take away al desko. There are books and light and all things naughty and nice – just like our man, Saint Larry.

St Lawrence, Our Hero and Patron Saint of Librarians and Cooks
He was a good guy, St Larry. On the surface, he was just your stand-up everyday third century Archdeacon of Rome, devoted to the needy and keeping tidy logs of the church’s material wealth (cue patronage of libraries and librarians). Dig a little deeper though, and we find ol’ Larry was one fine and honourable gent with a ballsy sense of humour.

Devoted to the neglected and sick, Larry knew his number was up as soon as anti-Christian Emperor Valerian gave Pope St Sixtus II the chop. Larry swiftly took a feather out of Robin Hood’s cap (or vice versa) and did what a lot of us would love to do; he scrambled up whatever Catholic Church bling he could lay his little mitts on and spread it around the poor and poorly as fast as he could. When Valerian furiously demanded Larry return the treasures, Larry gladly obliged and presented him with Rome’s crippled, blind, sick and indigent, announcing them ‘the true treasures of the church‘. Valerian didn’t like that much. So, being a mean old bully, he commanded Larry be burned to death – nice and slowly on a gridiron. And yet still, even during this torturous demise, Larry managed to muster the defiant strength and wit for which he would become forever known; on feeling a little crisp on the underside, Larry informed his persecutors ‘I’m well done. Turn me over!’ And thus, in dark humour, our Larry was bestowed the Patron Saint of Cooks. And Comedians