One of my favorite activities during my days off is to visit other cafes. A barista has to get out of her natural work habitat sometime and it's always good to taste different coffee. Here in Seattle, I'm lucky to have many cafes at my disposal for relaxing, having other baristas serve me coffee, and taking in some Seattle cafe culture. On a very recent visit to my favorite Sunday/Monday morning cafe, Lighthouse Coffee Roasters, I wondered is cafe culture in North America is truly evolving?
Between sips of my Americano and morning paper, I caught up with the Lighthouse boys, watched neighbors come and go, and talked with a few of my coffeehouse friends. Around me, my cafe compatriots were reading the paper, chatting with friends and family, kids and pets were running around. The perfect cafe scene, much like the one that drew me into this profession. However, not all cafes are alike. This is especially true in a country where the coffee history is still young and 16oz to go lattes are the norm. More often than not, much of what you find are people rushing to get their caffeine fix before work, students deep into their books, and laptop junkies surfing the internet. Whatever happened to relaxing with a cup of coffee and great conversation? Does the American public have an aversion to itself and the cafe environment? I mean really people -- there are enough cafes out there to feed a caffeinated army! Very few of them actually serve a true cafe culture where people come together to enjoy coffee, company, and conversation.
Is the cafe as it should be a dying breed or is just beginning to emerge in this young American coffee culture? I know that I'm not the only one captivated by the romanticism and charm of cafes experienced in travels around Europe. Many Americans vacation there every year. They come home, reminisce about how the coffee and cafe were so great, and wonder why they can't get the same thing at home. Are they really that blind and ignorant? I don't think so. I have faith in my customers. Who says that we baristas and cafe owners can't give them that same experience? On our part of the equation is providing the environment and the product -- focus on the quality of the products, keep the menu simple, and get rid of that darn wi-fi (computers easily kill actual human interaction -- last time I checked it took two people to have a conversation in a cafe and my ibook isn't a person). The other part of the equation is dependent on the actual customer -- help them break out of their shell. They were able to sit in a cafe during their vacation, why can't they do it on a regular basis? Encourage your customers to sit and enjoy their morning cup -- it only takes a few minutes...I know I take mine when I can.
bronwen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Amen.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I blame to-go cups and, of course, Victrola's damn wireless internet.
In Australia, office workers are working longer and longer hours and from where I stand you see people try to stretch everything else out (staying up late, getting to work, sleeping in) and take the coffee with them to work.
ReplyDeleteI would dearly love to see an italian style espresso bar right in the city but I think most of the more successful inner city cafes even the ones that care about quality have take-away coffees dominating their coffee sales.
Taking this to heart though, I had a sit-down coffee today that wasn't one that I made myself. :)
I don't know
I think as far as the role of the cafe owner/barista goes, what you're talking about here is architecture in the sense of creating patterns (e.g., providing excellent coffee and a welcoming space without too many distractions). IMHO, a good architect sets up patterns for the "timelss quality which cannot be named" (C. Alexander et. al.) to flow though minimally impeded. The timeless quality is experienced through interaction with others. So perhaps 'evolving cafe culture' is a limited way of thinking about it. I like to think of it as enabling the timeless. This is about as religious as I get.
ReplyDeleteOnce you've provided the patterns, what it really boils down to is the people. In addition to good coffee, that's what makes my hometown coffee bar what it is. Spellbinder is timeless in our own little way. And in addition to the barista it's the regular customers like me that make it that way if I do say so myself. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...
Seems maybe a little more challenging for you city folks...the thriving market for 16oz to go lattes illustrates how detached from the timeless quality many people spend much of their lives. But, there are still those who seek the timeless...
Where I live, the best coffee house allows unrestricted cigarette smoking. Talk about putting the 'coffee house culture' at risk...! I could NEVER bring a friend, or recommend it as a place to linger. You could cut the blue air with a knife. For me, it's 'in' and a FAST & tip-less 'out'!
ReplyDeleteYou betcha I order my cappas to go...!
I agree Chris...the to-go cup is a HUGE part of the problem. All it would take is for s few people to make a stand. How much is the preservation, or the re-invention, of the cafe culture worth? Is it worth losing business over? Well...I'm willing to bet that the long term benifits would far out way the short term hardships that those who do take a stand would no doubt experience.
ReplyDeleteBut this is our future people!
Cue up "we are the world"...
Chris Deferio
P.S. Chris ...I hope to run into you this weekend whilst I am teaching in Portland.
I love the social "cafe culture" that you guys are talking about. It would be great to be able to re-establish that.
ReplyDeleteThere are certain things that I won't compromise in my business. Committment to quality is pretty high up there.
However, take away my "to-go" cups today, and you take away 60-75% of a profitable shop's revenue. While it would be nice to think that someone could "take a stand" and go against the flow... I don't know if we can really afford to go toe-to-toe with the pace of American life.
That having been said, there IS one way we could eliminate to-go altogether: sell cappuccinos for 6-8 dollars. To command 6-8 dollars, we'd have to have a staff that consists entirely of 2005 USBC Finalist-caliber baristas, among other things. I believe that day will come someday, but it's gonna take a poopy-diaper-load of work.
Believe it.
I feel the cafe culture is very much alive where I work. We do offer free wi-fi, and that has it's selling point, but in general the people that come to the cafe are there for the cafe. I work a variety of shifts throughout the week, early morning through close(not in one day, but I see all the peek hours), and never do I feel like I work in an "internet cafe". Keep in mind this is also in a very business oriented part of downtown Portland, but most people there are on there coffee break with co-workers, and I'm sure the last thing they want to do is burn their retinas out with five more minutes of staring into a computer screen. People talk amongst themselves, with friends or with the people working behind the counter. I really love where I work, and am thankful it is anything but another internet hub. Sorry Bronwen, you don't got nothin' on Portland.
ReplyDeleteKyle
I have to echo Kyle a bit- both of our stores have a pretty huge constituency of "to-stay" customers that peacefully coexist with the "to-go" customers. I think it's part of the charm of our culture...keeps people stopping in and staying, I guess. I think this is especially important at the Monadnock store which is right smack dab in the middle of the Loop (Financial district of Chicago). I think great service and quality are so much more rare in that environment that the regulars of Monadnock really, really appreicate the space to sit and read the WSJ while sipping a capp or whatever.
ReplyDeleteI started a group at BaristaExchange.com to promote the coffee-to-stay concept.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.baristaexchange.com/group/coffeetostay
I started a group at BaristaExchange.com to promote the coffee-to-stay concept.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.baristaexchange.com/group/coffeetostay
It's largely a factor of atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteI know a coffee shop in Asheville, NC, called Caffiend, where I had some truly remarkable experiences, while I was living out of a car.
I've found that the more 'eager to serve' and 'professional' a place is, the quicker they want you out the door. This place is the antithesis of that phenomenon; you're lucky if you can figure out who actually works there, and the distinction is actually somewhat vague, as some people who hang out there help out, without being paid (myself included, at one time).
The all night part helped a lot. I could go in at 3:00 AM and some other patron would be there, who might or might not be on their computer, but if they weren't, we could hang out, chat, or play games -- I once spent 2 hours playing Monopoly there with an MRI engineer and a woman whose profession escapes me, now.
They didn't like if you bought nothing at all, at least if you hung out inside, but the parking lot and sidewalk out front were perpetually filled with highschool and college kids from about 2:00 to 10:00(who seldom bought anything, or would pool their cash for a single cup of coffee), while in the morning all the yuppies whooshed in, bought their coffee, and whooshed out -- the only time I saw anyone consistently waiting at the counter was during peak hours: rush hour to and from work.
They also did a lot of community stuff, hosting "Stitch-N-Bitch" nights, local bands, etc. Their bathroom walls are chalk board, with a huge basket of chalk for short-lived graffiti statements which are washed away every week or so.
All in all, there's something special about that place. You don't see that kind of openness or hospitality much, anymore, and it was a real treat while I was there.
京都デリヘルで迷ったら京都デリヘル情報局。
ReplyDelete京都デリヘルで迷ったら京都デリヘル情報局のモバイル版。
I love this article.
ReplyDeleteugg store
ugg boots store
Replica watches
discount ugg boots
UGG Classic
nike outlet
陽光下載站
ReplyDeletefacebook中文農場
facebook 開心農場中文遊戲
smg 教學
smg 軟體王
手機軟體
圖像處理
免費下載XP Windows 7 Vista
手機軟件
殺毒軟件排行榜
騰訊QQ2009
facebook中文網頁
臉書facebook中文
Facebook中文
facebook開心農場遊戲
xp專業版
winrar中文版
winrar中文版免費
winrar繁體中文版
kmplayer繁體中文版
kmplayer 繁體中文版 vista
搜狗音樂網
ReplyDeletegoogle 搜狗音樂網站
123 播放軟體
panda 防毒軟體
panda防毒軟體下載
諾頓防毒軟體試用版
免費諾頓防毒軟體
foobar2000繁體中文版
瑞星防毒繁體中文版
金山毒霸2009殺毒軟件
MSN Virus Removal
江民防毒軟體 kv2009
小雨傘防毒軟體
小雨傘防毒軟體中文說明
紅色小雨傘防毒軟體9.0版
bt程式下載
bt程式下載9 0
eMule-電驢繁體中文版下載
dr eye 免費翻譯軟體
免費翻譯軟體
台灣大哥大 800
uusee網路電視
directx 9.0免費下載中文版
酒精程式 120
skype中文版下載
skype 網路電話
免費燒錄軟體中文版
暴风影音2009播放器
暴風影音3
酷狗音乐2009测试版下载
酷狗音樂(kugou)2010正式版
酷狗音樂軟體
正宗 xyz 軟體王程式大合輯
免費記帳軟體MoneyAssistant
2009免費記帳軟體 excel
迷你歌詞(MiniLyrics) 繁體中文版
迷你歌詞註冊碼
迷你歌詞 minilyrics下載
免費照片編輯軟體adobe
照片編輯軟體 photoimpact
免費照片編輯軟體adobe
アダルト出会い系
ReplyDeleteセックスパートナー 出会い
爆乳 出会い系
エッチな出会い系サイト
出逢える出会い系サイト
すぐやれる 出会い系
巨乳出会い系サイト
巨乳爆乳 出会い
エンコウ 出会い系
素人と会える出会い系サイト
優良 出会い系
愛人 出会い
即会える 出会い系
割切った出会い系
ギャル妻 出会い系
エロ系出会い系
女子大生 出会い
ロリコン 出会い系
浮気 出会い
20代出会い系
家出少女 出会い系
風俗嬢出会い系
セクキャバ嬢出会い系
淫乱女出会い系サイト
セフレ募集出会い系サイト