Cafe culture Winter 2009 marathon post number one · Friday January 30, 2009 by colin newell
All work and no play makes Colin a dull boy.
And it was with that thought that we had an impromptu espresso throw-down (during my coffee break…) in my lab at the University today.
It was, after all, Friday – a long week, much production under our belts and high time to have a pre-weekend cortex bending exercise with the last legal high – the caffeine bean.
The equipment: An ECM Cellini Rocket professional machine on loan from EspressoTec.com in Vancouver.
A Rancilio Rocky grinder.
Several Reg Barber tampers – one of them a coveted solid Titanium 58MM base with bubinga (farmed hardwood) handles from Central America.
Coffee: Espresso house blend from Everyday Gourmet of St. Lawrence Market, Front Street in Toronto and some single-origin Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from local roaster Peter Cross.
The Contestants: Gillian (formerly of Habit Coffee and Culture. Mike C. from IT at UVic. And yours truly.
Our taste subjects included Nick, Wayne, Al, as well as our faithful selves.
We blasted through about 3/4 pound of coffee in under 15 minutes, making about 8 to 10 doubles and some misses.
Not surprising, Gillian mopped the floor with us. Mike was not far behind with one killer God shot after another – and I followed up the rear with some pretty decent crema rich shots.
The ECM Rocket will be the subject of a detailed review one of these days.
Meantime, it is good to have fun – and I think it is a cool to, at least occasionally, get all out of control with the coffee machines in the work place.
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Dining in Victoria as good as it gets #2 · Saturday January 24, 2009 by colin newell
I last wrote about Brasserie L`ecole several years ago – and I get back from time to time. And I am never let down… unless of course there are some things that are out of the control of the restaurant and its owner.
A case in point.
Andrea and I were out for dinner last night with a dear friend who is celebrating her birthday. She is the best and is worth the best that the city has to offer.
Brasserie L`ecole has no bad tables – and only great food.
Unless. Unless you have some badly behaved guests.
At Brasserie L`ecole, everybody is special – although if there is a fussy guest, the staff will generally look after them. Last nights celebrity guest table included Global TV news anchor Tony Parsons – an awesome guy by all appearances (and younger and better looking in person than on the tube…) He and his table were awesome – enjoying the restaurant and the whole experience.
He was to our immediate left. To our immediate right was a local clothier who thinks pretty highly of himself – you know the kind; refers to himself in the 3rd person…
Anyway, when he was not talking story with any restaurant staff that would stop by the table (forcing our table to look at staff bums for almost 20% of the time we were eating…) he was trying to send; wine, dessert, whatever to the Parsons table – essentially insinuating himself on them.
Clothier: “I would like to buy a bottle of wine for Tony…”
Maitre d’: “Monsieur, the Parsons table have plenty to drink… They do not need any more wine…”
Clothier: “Well, I would not want to buy them wine they will not drink…”
And so on and so on…
Nothing like an idiot clothier to almost ruin a great meal…
Almost. It was a great meal nonetheless.
Brasserie L`ecole is the perfect restaurant for that special first date or 22nd date or a spot to take those special friends on their special days.
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Hawaii vacation blogging - memories are made of this · Monday January 19, 2009 by colin newell
My sister, Toni, just asked me…
“What were some of the best memories of your Hawaii vacation?”
Good question.
For starters…
-eating a simple birthday dinner on the lanai watching the
Sun go down… Hale Kona Kai condo – Kona, Hawaii
-making breakfast every morning; granola, fresh papaya, and an omelette
-snorkeling with brilliant tropical fish
-sitting on a patio surrounded by coffee plants… while drinking the
coffee from the plants – Blue Horse Kona Farm near Captain Cook, Hawaii
-drinking beer at the Kona Brewing Company and eating pizza while
a mongoose mooches the table
-self guided tour at Greenwell Farms, surrounded by Avocado, Grapefruit, lemon
and breadfruit trees…
-drinking coffee at Island Lava Java on Alii Drive, Kona
-Eating shave ice at the North Shore of Oahu
-Eating at a Shrimp cart in Oahu
-Enjoying a plate lunch at a dodgy Honolulu bar and grill
-Eating a plate of nachos at Charters Marina pub next to the Illikai Marina, Waikiki
-Standing in line waiting to get into the Wailana Coffee House – a “Denny’s” on steroids,
4 times the size of our Denny’s talking to Canadian snow birds from Swift Current, Saskatchewan
-Watching a tropical thunderstorm
-Flashing the shaka hand gesture at a complete stranger
-Waikiki trolley tour… pretty much any part of it.
-Walking Bishop’s museum, Honolulu
and my favorite…
-Finding Andrea 13 minutes after getting lost in downtown Waikiki…
Moderately terrifying, but a satisfying reunion.
Hawaii vacation blogging - I had fun though some don`t · Wednesday January 14, 2009 by colin newell
Picture if you would… a little cafe that I have dreamed up. It is kind of a hole in the wall place. Long. Narrow. There are, like, over a hundred tables in this cafe… and the seats are really packed together. So much so that you cannot stretch out your legs. House rules: Everybody stays seated unless I say it’s OK to get up. I wander around the cafe once an hour or so offering people coffee or tea… or water.
And it’s not the best coffee either.
But my cafe is very, very expensive. And oddly, very busy.
People pay hundreds of dollars to sit here. Like I said, I just dreamed this up.
And I do not guarantee that I will actually serve any coffee – or offer any food.
I might charge a cover to come in… and not serve anything at all.
My cafe is so uncomfortable and unpredictable that you might ask yourself why on Earth you are coming here. I mean, what’s in it for you?
Truth is, this business, in real life is actually wildly successful.
Except, it is not a cafe at all. It is your average airline.
An Airline. Kind of like a cafe in the sky. You pay big money. You are treated like crap. Surly in-flight crew shuffle you around like bovine, throwing trowels of inedible food at you – all the while you wonder if your personal effects will be waiting for you at your destination.
Reminds me of a website I discovered on the weekend while thinking about my next trip. Airline Quality.Com blew me away with the candid reviews of Air Travel in the 21st Century. It seems that life on Earth in 2009 is in the 21st Century, but when you take off into the wild blue wonder – you might think it is actually the Dark Ages – right down to the cattle prods and Cat O’ Nine Tails .
Example of an Air Canada horror story – Total cumulative time spent on hold was estimated at 10 hours. I emailed AC this morning, Dec 30. They responded saying it would be 4 weeks before they would get back to me. Any airline can provide good service during the off-season, when the weather is good. The true test of an airline is when it is busy. Air Canada fails this test miserably .
Yup. Page after page of shocking true to life stories like these! I was glued to the computer for hours – my wife had to shake me out of my trance, locked into this like a mongoose being hypnotized by a cobra… couldn’t look away…
Personally, I like my humiliation on the ground where I am, at least, a little in control… or can walk away… Like work, or visiting the Passport Office (funny story – another blog) or doing a live television interview the very moment the interviewer realizes that I have the stage presence of Jean Claude Van Damme… Sorry Jean. At least if you get hassled in the air, you can round-house kick your way out of trouble and parachute to safety.
Anyway – before you fly or travel or plan your next vacation – visit two websites:
Airline Quality.Com and Trip Adviser.Com
For the coffeecrew blog, I am Colin Newell. Feet planted firmly on the ground… at least for now.
