My favorite local coffee shop, the Broadway Cafe, got some love from the New York Times this week. I guess that's what happens when Starbucks moves in next door, intending to take over the world, and then ends up closing its doors. How does this happen?
“We are not doing anything revolutionary here,” Ms. Honan [co-owner of the Broadway Cafe] said. “Coffee, and food that goes well with coffee.”
Very modest and unassuming--and the cafe has the same vibe. But apparently good coffee is revolutionary--part art, part science--because not many places are serving it. It requires baristi who know the ins and outs of roasting coffee beans, grinding them, tamping them, pulling shots, and frothing milk--in short, it requires more than push-button competency.
Personally, I'm happy that the Westport Starbucks is gone, because now people can't ask me to meet them there anymore, while the Broadway Cafe sits about twenty feet south of us, tantalizing me.
Photo is property of the NY Times. That's me in the back of the line. Not really, but it could have been.
3 comments:
There is something about the vibe at the Modest Unassuming Coffee Shop, is there not? We have a couple of MUCSes here in Wichita, too--and so, even as I despair that the Starbuckses here have begun to weaken their lattes (out of deference to the vast majority of Wichitans, who incomprehensibly prefer coffee that tastes more like weak tea than like coffee?), these other places pack in interesting collections of locals with little more than good coffee and wooden furniture.
Anyway. Nice post.
There is something about the vibe at the Modest Unassuming Coffee Shop, is there not?
Good call. Offhand, I can think of 4-5 such places in my area, and they all have above average coffee. In fact, of the half dozen really good coffee shops around KC, I think...4 would get the "modest, unassuming" label.
Maybe it's not a prereq for serious espresso, but it must help to put the emphasis where it belongs--on the coffee, not the decor.
All of the best coffee I have comes from MUCSes. If you're looking for a list of great MUCSes in KC, look no further than http://kcperky.com/coffee-map/ There's a ton of great ones out there.
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