Paying your dues - coffee style - 2011 · Sunday February 6, 2011 by colin newell
Andrea and I spent an early Saturday sitting in my all time favorite rural cafe – The Drumroaster – Just off the Island Highway at the Cowichan Bay turn-off.
We eschewed sleep, this 1st whole weekend back from a month in Hawaii, to hang out with foodie Don Genova and his lovely wife Ramona. We have been corresponding for some time now – and considering we are taking some cooking classes with Don – well, we thought it was a good idea to meet up and catch up.
Photo right – Don’t diss the gurus. Geir Oglend (and company) at Drumroaster Coffee knows his stuff. So, sit, listen and learn newbies…
So over a pot of Bunn Trifecta brewed Ethiopian coffee (the Trifecta was a completely new experience for me…) Andrea, Ramona, Don and I compared pleasant stories about our recent time in Hawaii – Like, what is more fun or almost as fun as going somewhere? Answer: Spending an hour talking about the highlights – and talking about future trips.
Let me say this about Drumroaster Coffee – one place on the Island that has that special edge. Like several other Victoria area cafes and bakeries, The DR has that rare quality of making every customer feel like family. It could be the intense attention to detail, greeting every familiar face, the owners and staff table surfing and taking that extra moment to find out what happening with folks.
It took me a long time to figure this out. Guess I was looking in the wrong direction. Owners Geir and Pat Oglend (and their coffee active family members – Courtney and Carsen) have played critical roles in shaping the Island coffee scene; co-creators of Serious Coffee, Broadwalk Coffee, and the first espresso carts ever added to Victoria.
My point is: When the Drumroaster people talk, listen… Listen if you want to learn something about coffee culture. Same applies to Habit Culture and Discovery Coffee… even Cafe Fantastico. When folks like Mark Engels talk about food and coffee culture at Bubby Roses Bakery, it is the straight goods. These people have been doing it right for a long time.
And the other thing I learned is – there is no “pecking order” in food and drink knowledge locally. We all know who has the most knowledge (named above) and that is not going to change. There is always going to be the elder statespersons in the local scene. Their knowledge is never going to be irrelevant.
This little rule (for me) applies here… in Vancouver, Seattle and beyond.
So shut up and learn.
That, folks, is my thinking today.
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Events of the year - new coffee shops 2010 · Friday December 31, 2010 by colin newell
2010 saw an infusion, a near cavalcade of new coffee places in Victoria – and a surprising exodus and hand-changing of a few others.
Expansions included HABIT coffee and culture which branched up to the Yates and Blanshard Atrium property. Sharing space with the B.C. Ferry Group, Zambri’s restaurant, PIG BBQ and Cook Culture Kitchen Supply and culinary school (Andrea and I are enrolled in a class in March with Don Genova.
Photo below – Habit Coffee Culture at the Atrium during an increasingly rare quiet moment.
Ryan and Kristie Taylor of Cafe Fantastico set their sights on a new Humbolt Valley location that promises food service and a liquor license.
Mark and Valerie Engels (and partners) are unveiling a new Bubby Roses Bakery in a new Cook Street Village building near the corner of Cook and Oscar; bigger space, more food and baked options, expanded coffee service – bubby better than ever!
Doug Crothall of Black Stilt has sold 2 locations to Mocha House – will be interesting to see which direction Mocha House takes these 2 thriving businesses.
Bill of Cairo Coffee is closing down an operation that has been in business in Victoria since 1922. His Deidrich roaster has been in the window on the 700 block of Fort Street since the 80’s and was on Douglas near the Bay in the seventies. At a youthful 75 years of age, Bill is moving to the next chapter in his life; spending more time with grand-kids, mountain climbing and sailing.
Derek and Gina Lucas of Buon Amici Coffee on Tyee quickly sold off their cosy operation on the West side to a new venture. Not too much buzz on the new owners. Rumor has a new Buon Amici operation rising from the ashes in the Uptown Center.
Credits for helping me move forward in my coffee learning curve include:
Geir, Pat, Carsen and Courtney Oglend for their inexhaustible support and sharing! Thanks for all the Hario Kit this year. Hario V60 reshaped my brewing experience completely.
Reg James and the boys of EspressoTec.com for their continuing support and access to the EspressoTec inventory. Thanks for the entire HARIO hand grinder product line samples!
Logan Gray and John Riopka at Discovery Coffee for keeping me on top of the scene when I could not do it alone.
Shane Devereaux and the gang at HABIT for a never ending stream of sharing, learning and support.
To Mark and Valerie Engels for their support and solidarity – and keeping us all supplied with great coffee and bakery from Bubby Roses Bakery!
Winter storm series The Victoria food scene chapter 1 · Wednesday December 1, 2010 by colin newell
Hey folks. We Vancouver Island residents live in, quite arguably, one of the most beautiful and moderate places on Earth. This is Canada after all – home of white winters for most of us North of 49. But not here in the North west. Snowfall is pretty rare up here and often an entire winter will pass without one flake of the frosty white stuff.
So it’s not bitterly cold. And it begs the question: Why is there so much hit and miss in the food department – especially when it comes to what should be hot.
We try and make a point of getting out at least once a week for a nosh, ideally somewhere new. Because it is easy to fall into a habit of finding a favorite and eating it to death. So we mix it up.
So my beef is this: What is wrong with so many restaurants in Victoria? We live a boat or plane ride from two gastronomic super-powers; Seattle and Vancouver. Two totally World class cities that have more 4-star eateries than they have any right to. And I am not saying that we do not have any winners folks… No, it is just that we have way too many losers. Why?
A couple of examples. There are a couple of “Earl’s and Cactus Club” type places in Victoria that are wildly and frustratingly uneven. And they shouldn’t be. One is Brown’s Social House. Great concept. Passionate staff on the floor and in the kitchen. And yet more often than not they fall flat on their faces. I have had orders show up at my table stone cold. The only thing that should arrive at the table stone cold is ice cream… Not a side of fries, pizza or a burger. These items should be piping hot.
Another is the Canoe Club. The food and service is up and down like an express elevator at the Empire state building – and for no good reason. I had a burger and fries there last weekend and the potatoes were raw and mealy and the burger was pinker than ahi tuna sashimi.
I have a theory. Victoria is a tourist town. We have a lot of folks that show up once. We have a lot of folks that show up often. My thinking is – some of these “so-so” places are depending on the “once served, never seen again” much like the Vancouver airport RCMP detachment. No sense giving your best if there is no return business. Which is to say that the local joints are merely keeping the bar up for one reason. This is does not explain the wild swings in overall quality.
We pay a bit of a premium for eating out in Victoria… because it is a tourist town. We have some of the best (if not the best) coffee culture in Victoria, per capita. One would think the food scene would be in step with the cafe scene. But it’s not.
And it bugs me.
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Fall Fun and Food Follies 4 Bringing home your baker · Saturday November 6, 2010 by colin newell
I have always thought that the best time to savor a cup of great coffee is early. Preferably after you have had a light breakfast. Dumping caffeine onto an empty stomach is never a good idea. Unless you are made of stone of course.
Which is what I said to Mark Engels, of Bubby Roses Bakery, while sitting in the window at the HABIT COFFEE AND CULTURE Atrium location – Yates and Blanshard.
On a damp Saturday November morning we make a note of the ebb and flow of serious coffee drinkers around us. Habit owner/team leader, Shane works the counter with the skill of a master. While ordering my single origin mug of wonder, Shane commented that his shift is the “fill in where needed” and “normal is not a word or reality that appears in his World.”
Sitting with Mark and getting in an full cup of wisdom is rarely undisturbed – because Mark is the Baker Mayor of the Cook street village area. And everyone knows the Mayor. In the space of 3 minutes we meet and greet friends and fans of the Bakery.
Friends of the Baker.
You need the Baker. Especially when the Baker is putting bread on your table. And bringing a special social energy to your community. Your neighborhood.
So between all encompassing impressions of Victoria cafe and baking culture and sips of coffee, Mark gives me the snapshot of the lowdown in his life as he plans the latest bakery game changer.
New ideas. New locations. Fresh ambition. Finding downtime. Nailing down balance.
Mark talks about finding new strength and restoration in getting away from it all or stepping away for brief periods of time.
We are distracted for a moment by my Carrot and Bran muffin.
Baked things distract Mark – it is an industrial hazard. I come to expect it.
And even I ask, why here in the Wet Coast of British Columbia a muffin at HABIT COFFEE is called a “Nantucket Morning Glory” muffin.
Like, what local bakery would give a local muffin a name like that? It should be called the Sooke River Morning Glory muffin.
Little things that rile up a baker and a coffee web maker.
Mark and I wind down the conversation/coffee date with opinions on why social networking tools, like Twitter and Facebook are actual limiters of taking business and ideas forward. My feelings on that will be explored in more detail in a later edition.
In the meantime, I have a pile of modern coffee gear to plow through, write and review.
Because the Universe abhors decaffeination.
Colin lives and works in Victoria B.C. Canada and tries to write about it from time to time. Sometimes, Social Networking gets in the way!
