Archive for December, 2008
Top Notch Coffee and Top Pot Donuts
Its a little strange when you see one of your favorite coffee shop on the Food Network. Now I tend to think of Seattle as this little city that doesn't get much attention in the media. I mean pick just about any show on the Food Network. Even though Seattle has great restaurants, they barely seem to feature any of them. Or look at sitcoms, other than Frasier, I can't really think of any sitcom that is based in Seattle. Or what about movies? Other than Sleepless, and I think Double Jeopardy, I am really hard pressed to count off movies that are supposed to have taken place in Seattle. So you can understand, that when I saw Top Pot Donuts on TV, I thought that was exciting. Now what was not exciting was that on the show, the only featured the new, modern store located downtown on 5th Avenue and didn't even mention the flagship store, the one located on Summit Avenue up on Capital Hill which I personally think is the coolest. Top Pot also have three other stores, one up on Queen Ann, one in Bellevue and one [...]
Fuel Coffee… My Daily Fuel
Fuel Coffee has been a staple of the Eastern side of Capital Hill for a while now and has also been a favorite alternative source of mine. The first store opened up on Capital Hill (or maybe more accurately the Miller Park neighborhood... a couple of doors down from the famous Kingfish Cafe right on 19th. She then opened her second store on Montlake, in the same space where the Montlake branch of the Seattle Library system was located before they move to their new location across the street. She then opened a third store in the Wallingford area right on 45th almost directly across the street from Chocolati Café. I often drive past Fuel Coffee on my way to the office (or client site) and will stop and get a latte for the road. I will usually rotate between the one on 19th which has the old coffee shop feel to it similar to Bauhaus or the original Top Pot, and the one on Montlake Blvd which has a more modern feel to the design. Regardless, I really like the design concept of the old 50s, 60s gas station [...]
Insomniax Coffee on 15th
Insomniax Coffee & Juice is yet another of those coffee shops that I pass by on a regular basis, but I rarely, if ever go there. The main reasons for this are twofold. The first is that I usually don't hang out in the area as such, and because of this, easy parking tends to be important to me because when I do tend to stop at such places, I am in usually on my way somewhere else. Thus, the second reason is the need for easy parking which then allows me to quickly pop in and out... this is actually a bigger issue than the first. In the case of Insomniax Coffee, I actually live a few blocks away from the place, so I can walk if I really wanted to... so there is actually a third reason why I don't go to the place... and that is the coffee. I am not a big fan of their lattes. This is a shame because the do serve fair trade certified coffee supplied to them by a roaster called Café Mam. The actual blend that they use for espresso is Café Mam's Royal Espresso blend. I have now been there twice and I have [...]
Voxx Coffee on Eastlake
Voxx Coffee on Eastlake is another coffeehouse that until relatively recently, I had driven by too many times to count but never actually stopped there to get a latte. The two main reasons I think I hadn't stopped there in the past were; I have never heard of Voxx Coffee other than seeing the place when I drive by. Normally when you hear about coffee shops, you tend to hear of the Victrolas, the Vivaces, the Stumptowns, the Caffe Umbrias etc. It is because of the fact that I never really heard about them that sub-consciously I really didn't want to stop there. This naturally would bring me to the importance of coffeehouses and roasters getting their names out there... but this is a post I will reserve for later The other reason I was reluctant to stop there was because the parking situation in that area of Eastlake is not pretty... Finding parking is at times a beast It was only after I started this blog, in addition to collecting paper coffee cups did I actually determine to stop there and get a [...]
My Bizarre Elbasha Cafe Experince
First of all I must say that I have drive past the Elbasha Cafe many a time and the sign has always intrigued me. The sign for this cafe depicts a Moroccan looking guy wearing a Fez and almost looks like some old portrait photograph from the 40s or 50s. I also like the green colors on the logo. What's even cooler is that they have same logo done in chalk on the brown menu chalk board. I am now thinking that I need to start collecting pictures of the most interesting menu chalk boards in coffee shops I visit.. but I digress... The only problem I had with trying to visit Elbasha is that it is located at the North end of Belltown in an area that I don't normally frequent so I haven't really had a chance to check out the place until just a few weeks ago. There was parking right by the place and so I was able to make a quick stop there while on my way to a client's office. Right off the bat, I liked the north half of the space... with comfortable looking couches and a fireplace... so if you had a bit of time, a [...]
Faire Gallery Cafe for Coffee, Art and More…
I checked out Faire Cafe when it first opened. This was quite a while back and quite honestly I didn't quite remember what the latte experience was like and I knew that if I was going to add a post about the place, I would have to go back and try another latte... And so I did just that a couple of days ago.. Before I get into the details, I must say that many a time, especially in the evenings after work or at night, I have driven by the place on my way home and seen the place completely packed! Not just people sitting down to coffee and treats, but people listening to live music, poetry readings or other performances. The remarkable thing about this is that Faire Gallery Café is actually a relatively small place. What helps though is there is upstairs seating although the upstairs does not span the whole floor space, rather it semi-circles three sides of the wall. What I mean by that is the people sitting upstairs can look below and see everything going on, on the main floor. Jessica, the owner of the [...]
Herkimer Coffee… Much Ado About Nothing…
Today I dropped by the Herkimer Coffee shop, the one located in South Ravenna, on University Way NE. I was in the area running an errand and I saw the sign for the shop... and since I was parking right by the shop, I thought this would also be a good opportunity to try out the coffee there and also find out a little about Herkimer Coffee and their selection of beans. The barista on duty was a rather interesting character. When I asked her questions about the coffee beans and the blend, all she could tell me was that Herkimer Coffee roasts their own beans. The roasting plant is in Phinney Ridge, which is also their other retail location. But she doesn't know much about the blends because the owner doesn't give out any details. I thought is was interesting that their espresso blend does not have a name at all... it's simply known as the espresso blend... I then asked her if I she minded if I could take a picture in the store. She was rather apprehensive about that and offered to ask her manager if I could. [...]
Kitanda For Brazilian Espresso
Two days ago I was on my way back to from a late lunch when I drove by Kitanda Brazilian Espresso. I have never heard of Brazilian espresso so this certainly caught my eye. In addition to this, since this was in Redmond, this was even more exiting, primarily because the options for good espresso on the east side, i.e. Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland etc are extremely limited. The only place I can think of right now is Jitters Coffee and even that is not super great. So I resolved to pass by the next morning and find out exactly what Brazilian expresso, as opposed to Brazilian coffee, is all about. So early the next morning, I stopped by Kitanda. As I was entering the shop, the first thing I noticed was the big Caffè D'arte sign that hang by the window. Hmm... I was thinking, maybe they don't serve Brazilian espresso after all. But I decided to forge on and see. Maybe they have the Brazilian espresso on the menu. So I walk up to the counter to place my order at the same time taking note of the fact that all [...]
Getting a Great Eggnog Latte
Being that I didn't really grow up with eggnog, I never really though much about it, nor desired to taste it for that matter. The stuff looked way too rich, yellow and creamy and a little nauseating and I just couldn't imagine drinking it. And it wasn't till a couple of years back that I finally decided to try it... and to my surprise, I actually liked it. Don't ask me why I decided to try it, I think it may have been the spot of rum that gave it the great flavor. Now, eggnog has become one of my favorite Christmas 'traditions' or indulgences if you will... I do enjoy a glass of virgin eggnog once in a while. But that comes with a huge caveat... not all eggnog is made equal... Clearly some eggnog out there, for example the Smith Brothers Farms makes some really tasty eggnog... However, my clear favorite eggnog is that by Organic Valley family of farms. I could drink their eggnog all day... which would certainly not be good for my weight... And this is also the time when coffee shops and coffeehouses all [...]
Espresso Daliso Brings Coffee Culture to Renton
It just so happened that I had to go to Renton to conduct some very important personal business when I noticed the sign to the tiny, tiny coffee shop called Espresso Daliso. This shop, located on a street, the name of while I forget but runs parallel to I405 is about the size of a large RV. I mean this place is so tiny, they have one table inside for sitting... there is no additional room for much other then the space in front of the ordering counter for people to stand. I suspect that most will walk in, order their coffee then head on out. Daliso is owned by a Sue and John who decided that it was time to bring proper coffee to the Renton masses. They were pretty nice and friendly. They told me later, after we had chatted for a while about our mutual interest in good coffee, they were initially suspicious when I walked in carrying my camera yet they thought that the blog was a great idea. I liked the fact that they were passionate about coffee and the whole coffee culture. Hey told me about their favorite [...]