Saturday, March 30, 2002


amazing weather today. . .just a lovely, perfect spring afternoon!

which was completely foreshadowed by last night's turn of events. . .mr. right made the pizza dough! that's right, following the easy recipe here, mr. right turned out a tremendous pizza crust. even tho' he had never touched yeast before. this is surely proof that the recipe is infallable!

today he and i took advantage of the charming evening to walk over to smith street here in brooklyn, which boasts the chicest set of restaurants in all new york. after a dinner at la banania, i stopped by halcyon for a cup of espresso.

halcyon is an ultra-hip coffee bar and music shop, frequented by the unemployed-information-architect-and-flash-designer- making-ends-meet-by-dj-ing set. they are to my knowledge the only place in all new york serving espresso vivace, which is one of my two favorite espresso blends.

since i was passing by, mr. right and i wandered in for a doppio. the barista sported the required black vans old skools and bleached soul-patch. i took a long long look at the grinder, which i swear was a mazzer major. it had that distinctive silvery ice blue metallic-colored housing and elegant, tapered hopper that just screams mazzer. when i asked the barista what it was, he frankly said he didn't know and he didn't seem too interested.

although the place was fullish, i could also immediately tell that they were experiencing a classic slow-bar night, meaning that the commercial espresso machine probably wasn't up to temperature. i hesitated before ordering the double. but then i went for it.

the coffee was frankly what david schomer himself would call sour, a sure sign of a cold machine. the crema was plentiful, but as blonde as jean harlow. proof once again -- the equipment can be good, the coffee beans superb, but it all comes down to the barista, who failed to keep the machine up to temp or to know that this would be a problem and how to correct it.

where o where in new york is the barista who cares?

posted by fortune | 7:47 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments