Thursday, September 04, 2003


stylin' at the peninsula

had to keep an important personal coffee appointment this morning at the lovely peninsula hotel, where don schoenholt of gillies fame most kindly took myself and two other coffee lovers, bill thompson and julia campbell, out for an amazing breakfast.

those of you dear readers who have not had the privilege of don's company can still surely by now understand the incredible hoard of coffee knowledge he holds. an hour with him is a graduate seminar in coffee.

we drank the peninsula's own rich blend, created for them by don, heavy with indonesian coffees. just a tremendous breakfast cup.

but the joy was don's second coffee, the kona star, a delicate coffee, yet one so intense in flavor that with a touch of light cream its chocolate note sings out clear. a pinch of raw sugar is not unthinkable, tho' really unnecessary.

we had no espresso this morning -- unusual for me, i know. and for bill too; he's a huge espresso fan.

back at gillies itself briefly, don took pity on mr. right, who lacked the syrup he loves for his weekend latte. don offers da vinci syrups (see here for my love letter to da vinci) to this customers.

but today he gave me some samples of the famed french syrup, routin 1883, which is quite difficult to find in new york. thanks to his generosity, i have 2 bottles of hazelnut. and i look forward to trying them.

altho' i'm not a big fan of syrups in coffee, i know many people -- mr. right among them -- loves their lattes, and so naturally i want to offer him and my guests the highest quality and purest taste possible.

after all, the idea behind all this is to share time with others, to create things those we love and care about enjoy.

julia asked don "what's your perfect cup of coffee?" to which don replied, "all of them." and he's right. all good cups of coffee are delights.

and yet he added that the perfect cup of coffee's role is only to add to the ambience, to be another factor in the memory of enjoying the most beautiful moments of our lives in the most beautiful places that we know with the most beautiful people we deeply love.

i don't completely agree. the perfect cup of coffee will not go unnoticed; it will not just be a small plus. with its rich scent alone, the perfect cup of coffee announces that it is a form of art, a thing of grace, a delight to the soul. it is a tribute to those whom we offer our purest love.

on some rainy new york mornings gliding up to the elegant entrace of the peninsula in a sleek car and having the entire sidewalk stop to gaze in a brief moment of admiration as 2 leggy blondes slither out like film stars to stand underneath the doorman's huge umbrella is only a prelude to something even better:

and i'm referring to the feeling of warmth and togetherness we all surely felt as we laughed together at breakfast this morning. that is the priceless gift given by the perfect cup of coffee.

posted by fortune | 6:38 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | |