Coffee evokes pretty strong emotions. Anyone possessed of working taste buds loves to praise or pillory their latest cup. I'm certainly guilty and have been known to whinge excessively about the bad and the bitter brews I've had. 
In Scottish Maclean, a town of 2600 people on the lazy Clarence River, they've got it just right. Not only do people line up at Botero Roastery & Cafe for their morning latte, cappuccino or hippest single origin filter coffee served in the latest Chemex glass pot, they pop in to watch the beans being roasted on site. 
The process takes place from Tuesday to Thursdays in a mini-factory at the back of the cafe, separated from diners by a glass wall. Local coffee lover Danny Young opened the roasting business five years ago in the old NRMA garage and now sells coffee to restaurants up and down the NSW coast. The cafe, where I tuck into delicious smashed peas, avocado, goat's cheese and pesto, opened last year and exudes that inner-city look we expect from Melbourne and Sydney but with the homey vibe of a small country town. 
Maclean, which wears its Scottish roots not so much on its sleeve but on the 247 telegraph poles that are wrapped in different tartans, is fast developing a foodie-cum-cafe culture, along with its coastal cousins Yamba and Iluka.
While surfers have long made the 670 kilometre trek from Sydney to Angourie and holidaying families flock to Yamba to relax for weeks on end, no one's waxed too lyrically about food in the Clarence. Not until now.
A few hundred metres up River Street from Botero, dedicated barista Rob McDowell has been making coffee for a band of enthusiastic followers at On the Bite cafe for six years. He buys his beans from Melbourne roaster Coffee Supreme, the staff of which travel the world buying directly from farms.
Apart from his usual blend, Rob also offers a different and interesting single origin coffee to his devotees once a week. His wife and chef Fiona Farlow, a Maclean local, specialises in Middle Eastern and Asian dishes, although the local slow-cooked Bangalow pork belly is the most popular item on the menu. 
Maclean is one of those places that could have quietly slipped under the radar as travellers made their way to the coast just another 20 minutes away. But smart cafe and business owners appreciate the beauty of this pretty spot by the river and a couple of galleries have also sprung up, including King Studio Creative Stays that doubles as a B&B offering art and silk-screen printing lessons.
In Yamba, 19 kilometres east of Maclean, retro decor is the theme of a new cafe, Irons and Craig, that opened in the 1930s holiday shack on the main drag of Coldstream Street. 
Here fibro is a fashion statement for owners Antony Perring and David Barnier, who named their cafe after their grandmothers, who might have possibly owned the Laminex tables and 1960s sideboards that grace the place.
In the backyard there's not one but two Hills Hoist clothes lines and chooks in a cage. The food, on the other hand, is quite modern. I've never thought of grilling watermelon before, but that's how it comes, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and accompanied by a crumbling of feta. Of course, there's Yamba prawns on the menu and it's nice to know they make their own ice-cream and bake biscuits and cakes on the premises. In keeping with the grandma touch, there are bottles of homemade tomato sauce to be bought on your way out, along with jams, relishes and cartons of eggs. 
Yamba sits on the southern shore of the mouth of the Clarence River, one of NSW's longest rivers that rises in the Border Ranges and makes a 360-kilometre journey to the Pacific Ocean. On the northern shore is Iluka, not quite as well-known but also getting its foodie creds in order.
The best meal I have during my sojourn is at the new Laneway Cafe, just a short walk from Iluka Bay. Owner Aaron Moon, who hails from Lismore, knows how to combine flavours to produce dishes that tempt you to lick the plate clean. I have the pork belly with eggplant and sobo noodle salad with sesame and miso dressing, and my friend chooses the roasted blue pumpkin salad with tahini, meals that produce quite a bit of food envy that is only solved by sharing.
The best-located eatery though is Marraca's Boatshed Cafe, just near the marine shop and ferry wharf in Iluka. As we breakfast in the sunshine, the historic little wooden ferry called the Clarence Head comes motoring towards us, having made the 45-minute crossing from Yamba.
Marika Stephenson, who opened the cafe in mid-2014 after moving from chilly Braidwood, has added Bohemian touches of colourful cushions and an animal print chaise lounge to the otherwise nautical theme. She pops down to the fishing trawlers daily to buy the freshest prawns and seafood for which the region is known. And in the new quest to keep caffeine freaks satisfied, she also makes great coffee.
TRIP NOTES
MORE INFORMATION
clarencetourism.com.au
pacificcoast.com.au
GETTING THERE
It's 652 kilometres from Sydney to Maclean or about a  seven-hour drive. It's another 19 kilometres to Yamba and 29 kilometres from Maclean to Iluka. From Yamba it's just five kilometres to the surfers' beach of Angourie to the south.
Nearest airport is Grafton. Regional Express Airlines (REX) operates two direct flights a day from Sydney and two via Lismore. Rex.com.au
  STAYING THERE  
Artists Malcolm and Julie King run the three guest room King Studio Creative Stays in a two-storey terrace opposite the Clarence River in Maclean. The house is filled with Julie's art.  $150 per couple for bed and breakfast, while two-night art workshop stays are $440 a person including breakfasts, lunches and morning/afternoon teas and two days of art lessons. kingstudio.com.au
Family accommodation is available in cabins on both sides of the river mouth. 
Calypso Holiday Park at Yamba has riverside cabins from $70 a night in the low season. Calypsoyamba.com.au
Anchorage Holiday Park in Iluka is a touch more glamorous  as some cabins feature spa baths. Rates from $105 for a veranda cabin in the off-season.  Anchorageholidaypark.com.au
EATING THERE
Boreto Roastery & Cafe, 275 River Street, Maclean. (02) 6645 5541 Espressobotero.com.au
On the Bite, 215 River Street, Maclean (02) 6645 4488 facebook.com/pages/On-the-bite
Irons and Craig, 29 Coldstream Street, Yamba (02) 6646 1258 Ironsandcraig.com
Laneway Cafe, 3/63 Charles St, Iluka (02) 6645 7022 facebook.com/pages/The-Laneway-Cafe-Iluka
Marracas Boatshed Cafe, 2A Charles St, Iluka (02) 6646 6668 facebook.com/pages/Marracas-Boatshed-Cafe
Caroline Gladstone was a guest of the Legendary Pacific Coast.