Cafe Capristano

Rouki rides the hobby horse at Capristano.

Our first lunch in Ibague finds us at Cafe Capristano, a sort of outdoor cafe that seems to have been tacked onto a building at a street corner. Nothing is fully enclosed and nothing is contained in anything that we would think is a building, yet the environment is warm, friendly and ensconced from the cacophony of the streets just outside the window.

Lunch is pretty simple. A menu of the day is on offer with pork, chicken or beef options. I choose the chicken and it's delicious. The chicken is thinly sliced and cooked on a plancha. It's slightly overcooked and maybe tending towards the dry side but the thinness of the cut, as well as the crisp caramelization of the exterior, and the liberal seasoning makes it just right. What would have been a disaster back home has been skillfully piloted to deliciousness. The potato and salad are okay and more perfunctory than anything else, but the poached banana is a knockout.


Asparagus Soup

Looking at the cross-section, it's not your typical banana but a variety that I usually see at Latin or Asian markets. The meat is a deep golden yellow and holds up well to cooking. From what I've gathered, the banana is cooked in butter, sugar and milk rendering it sweet with a rich lusciousness that was absolutely perfect with the chicken. I was originally weary about ordering the menu of the day and only did so because everyone else was doing it and I didn't want to seem out of place, but the result was absolute delicious goodnesss.

The asparagus soup was also a tasty starting course. Rich while being light and delicately balanced. Just enough cream was added to smoothen it out and a reserved, but proper hand with the seasoning. I wanted to drink the soup from the bowl instead of maintaining my civility and the use of the spoon.


Chicken with cheese, baked potato and poached banana.

The really nice thing about Colombia, and I'm guessing Latin America in general, is the prevalence of fresh juices and lemonades. Forget your sodas, on offer with lunch is a lemonade made with what we know as limes. It's zesty, sweet, refreshing and delicious. And did I mention they make them by hand, to order? I sucked down two of them.

Afterwards, we ordered some coffees from Capristano's baristas. The cafe is next door to the venue and their baristas are attending our training and we wanted to see some of the skill level we'll be dealing with. Watching baristas is always an interesting exploration that reveals different methodology. The barista at Capristano tapped the portafilter roughly 47 times each time she made an espresso (we counted). Luckily for the portafilter she taps lightly and with a plastic tamper. But she grinds the coffee to order.

The espresso and cappuccino were decent enough. Milk slightly on the hotter side but not offensive and the espresso was decent.


Rodrigo arrives with samples from the baristas.


Pondering the espresso and cappuccino.

Cafe Capristano
Calle 11 No. 4-29
Parque Murillo Toro, Ibague
Colombia
www.capristano.com

Venta A Minuto

Hope springs eternal in Ibague.

Just outside of the main entrance to the Federacion de Cafeteros de Colombia is a woman selling minutes. If only it were possible to buy a couple more years of life...

Ahhh, Ibague!

The view from my room at the Mercure Hotel.

After a rather long journey, we arrived in Ibague yesterday evening and this morning I woke to this. Beautiful.

Ibague's weather reminds me of Hawaii. It's warm and breezy while comfortable. Just lovely. Sitting in the open air, I'm reminded of my former life in Honolulu and think that we need to organize a trip of coffee friends to Hawaii.

Ibague is hot without being unbearably so. And I'm liking it. Time to head downstairs for some fresh papayas...

Smelling Bogota

There's something in the air, but I'm not sure what.

I've arrived in Bogota, Colombia and the moment I stepped off the aircraft my nostrils were filled with the acrid aroma of something somewhere burning in the distance.

Maybe it's not something burning but it's an aroma that I´ve smelled around the world, grown accustomed to and find strangely comforting. Maybe it's my years of fond memories in the Philippines that maintains this friendly reception towards this aroma but whatever it is, I feel comfortable and at home with the aroma filling my nostrils.

Committing Treason

Mac and Dell - I Love my bastard child.

Since my childhood, I've been an Apple user. Starting with the Apple II+, then the MacSE, PowerBook 180, PTP225, G4/500MP, iBook and numerous assorted minis - in all, that's over 25 years of using Apple computers.

Recently, I made the decision to buy a Dell Mini 9 and hack it with Mac OSX and it's been an interesting experience. Some people, like the United Flight attendant, think it's pretty cool, but there seems to be a darker force at work here.

For generations, Mac Users have been the pariah of the computing world. We've been the minority and like minority populations, we've been berated and made fun of. As such, we can be an insular group that eschews the world of PCs and pooh-poohs on those who choose Windoze.

Suddenly, I'm the pariah.

The general camaraderie I experienced with Mac people has turned harsh. Those other users who saw me as a kindred spirit only see the "Dell" logo emblazoned on the netbook lid and immediately turn vicious. "What's that you're using?" they say with no hint of comfort. As though I've betrayed the clan by journeying to the Dark Side.

That suspicion isn't quelled when I show them and speak enthusiastically about how OSX ports to the Dell. I can see it in their eyes, sure it's a Mac Operating System but it's still a bastard child. It's an abomination and not the Pure Blood Apple that it should be. It's genes are tainted and, therefore, can never be fully trusted or accepted.

As I venture to South America today, I will be taking my mongrel machine with me. It's tiny form and long battery life accompanying me on the long journey with episodes of Hell's Kitchen and copies of Inglourious Basterds, District 9 and Star Trek (I would have brought 500 Days of Summer, but it's not on BitTorrent).

AA MIA-BOG - Already Better Than United

Cortadito con Azucar y Empanada en Miami

3am Screwed

It's just past 3am here in Baltimore and I'm stuck. After a long day with my nieces and family celebrating my aunt's birthday, then dinner with Anisha and a birthday beverage hang with The Bob, I'm sitting at home struggling with exhaustion and fatigue and I don't want to sleep.

My flight to Miami this morning is at 6am, which means I have to check-in by 5am and leave my place no later than 4:30am. Do I sleep for 50 minutes and risk not waking up and missing my flight? Or do I hang in there, dying to sleep and just wait it out until it's time to leave?

Knowing how many flights I've missed because of similar circumstances means that I'm waiting it out.

I hate early morning flights and these flights to Latin America are the worst. Whether it's Mexico City, Managua or Bogota, it's always the first flight out to catch the one flight down south. It's horrible. I always try to schedule my flights as late as possible in the day to avoid these circumstance but sometimes, it just doesn't work out to my ideals.

At least I'll be tired enough that I can, hopefully, sleep most of the way to Bogota.

There Is No Santa Claus

The Bride and Groom ready to make their Grand Entrance.

Make no mistake about it, I'm a terrible wedding guest.

Not that I get belligerently drunk and start dancing on the bar wearing one of the bridesmaids pieces of lingerie from a 20 second bathroom tryst (that's never happened...), but rather because I'm absolutely terrible about returning those RSVP cards you get in the invitations. In fact, I'm terrible at even opening the invitation.

That's because chances are that the reason you've invited me to your wedding is because we've been good friends for many years. With that kind of relationship, I absolutely am going to make it to your wedding. You're going to ask me, I'm going to ask the date and then when I said "yes, I will attend" I meant it. No need to worry about invitations, those cards or whether or not I'll be bringing a date (I won't because Hope Springs Eternal), I will be there just as I promised.


Andi ponders the right time to chat with Tita Zenaida.

Of course, that doesn't stop the constant nagging from the bride about when I'm going to send the card back. Sheesh, didn't I say I was coming - isn't that enough? But really, I understand your concern. You want to know whether I'll have the chicken or the beef - truth is, I don't care because I already know the caterer who's charging you a hundred bucks a head has precooked the entire dish and it will be sitting in an Alto-Shaam all day long rendering whatever flavor you got so excited about four months ago during your tasting into bland, dry mush.

The one that really had me confused was my friend who kept asking me when I was going to send the card in because they needed to know for sure that I was coming. The part that confused me was that I had already promised to be one of his groomsmen. I thought for sure the agreement to be a groomsman also meant that I agreed to attend the wedding...

After many years of turning down offers of marriage, Angeli finally decided to take the plunge and marry Des. It's a fairy tale story that begins three years ago during Angeli's sisters wedding to that racy Colombian Camilo. Both Des and Angeli were the best man and maid of honor and such began a torrent of love that somehow featured living in Gigi and Camilo's basement and other whirlwind events that I wasn't able to make out of the speeches.


This photo appears at the demand of my publicist.

Within our circles, Des' best man speech is notoriously regarded as one of the longest, most rambling speeches in history. Thirty minutes of oratory that no one really understood, filled with roasting and the revelation that Santa Claus does not exist. Thus resulting in a mass hysteria amongst the ring bearer and flower girl whose milk and cookie filled dreams of Fat Santa and reindeer were crushed in one swift strike. Nothing quite like watching wailing children run from the room with mommies chasing after them.

Returning the favor, Gigi and Camilo were the matron of honor and best man, and they too remembered Des' speech, making jokes about it at every opportunity. Note: please don't poke fun at someone else's speech unless you're absolutely sure that your speech is going to be better.

But weddings are about fun and revelry and, as long as the bar stays open, good times. Luckily for us, the bar stayed open late into the night, which augurs good fortune and long life for Des and Angeli.


A proper Filipino Wedding just isn't unless a fresh Lechon is involved.

ph: Vinyl Mania

Look at the picture above. After thinking that the floors are hardwood oak, I'm starting to think they're just pine floors that have been stained with Golden Oak stain because they look pretty darn golden for oak.

The project continues with the laying of a vinyl floor to conform to foodservice code in the work area. It's a simple, waterproof flooring by TrafficMaster from Home Depot.

ph: Do Not Pass Go

I got a letter from the government the other day...

Someone in Hampden must be feeling the pressure - especially since I return home from my trip out west to find an inspection notice taped to the door of project hampden. Something about doing work without a permit and being subject to a $1,000 fine. Considering I've already pained the expense of a "designer", I'm not too pleased about being fined even further.

A quick call to the visiting inspector reveals the complaint and after a short discussion, all is well. No work has been done to the space that requires a permit and our area inspector and I have been in constant communication throughout our process so no problems there and we're still on track.

ph: Some Details and The Chairs

Front door bumper.

While I enjoy the overall production of building a new shop, sometimes it's the little details that excite me. Like these door bumpers and hangers. Brass or brushed metal? These are monumental decisions that will set the tone for you can't have one and also the other. It must be unified. Some tell me that most people won't notice. True, but it's the nagging little bastards (like myself) who will - and hopefully, they will find as much joy in discovering the little details that I had discovering the little detail of the highly polished fire nozzles in the range hood at Volt Restaurant.

Maybe they won't notice that reverse trimmed chair rail behind the front door, but I know it's there and ready for that one time when some detail oriented fuck (like myself) will maliciously peer behind that door to see if the trim is trimmed out - mwahahaha!


Front door hook.

Then there's the front door hook. Again, another little detail that no one will probably notice. I needed it because I had removed the original hook left there by the previous tenant. It was too long and might poke a hole in my beautiful wall. It had to go but it left an unpainted spot on the door. A glaring unpainted spot. Either try to match the paint or replace it with a different hook. I think this one looks pretty good.


New lab floor and three compartment sink.

After the plumber came to estimate the job of locating the three compartment sink in the basement, it entailed jacking the floor and burying a pump tank underneath the floor, resulting in skyrocketing costs. Time to move the sink to the compromised, but workable location in the lab.

This also meant that we needed to install a washable floor and I decided to go with the Traffic Master vinyl floating floor in Country Pine to sort-of accent the existing pseudo-antiqued painted floor.


The chairs are looking too big.

Then there's the chairs. While spying and sitting on them at Second Chance, I thought they could be smashing with their hand-carved claw feet and detail work. The gold embroidered upholstery is a bit gaudy chic that's easily rectified with slip covers. The problem is that now that they're in the space, they seem too big. Dammit! Just when I think I'm getting closer, we step back just a little.

Anyone want to buy some really nice antique chair for cheap?

OMG: Deep Fried Butter

photo courtesy of The Food Network

You probably have seen this elsewhere but Abel Gonzales Jr. is a finalist at the 5th Annual Big Tex Choice Awards at the State Fair of Texas. Simply freeze balls of butter, batter and deep fry. The sensation is supposedly like that of buttered toast.

Now I'm all for butter. I'm all for buttered toast. But I'm certainly alarmed at the idea of Deep Fried Butter Balls. Until, that is, I think about it. Buttered toast... Hmm, might not be too bad.

Makes me want to run down to the Maryland State Fair today and eat everything fried in sight...

Choux Choux Remembered

Late night Saucisson Sec noshing from Choux Choux Charcuterie.

Le Croissant Cafe

Butter and almond croissants with coffee al fresco at Le Croissant Cafe.

Not too far from San Francisco Airport is the neat little town of Burlingame. I just happened upon the town while trying to make my way to In-N-Out Burger last week when I was in town and stumbled upon the little Le Croissant Cafe.

Even though I lived in both Manila and Honolulu, I'm still rather shocked to see so many Asian people in California. Asian people doing the same things that people do elsewhere: live. In my neck of America, Asians are still far between and even a bit of a novelty. At least, that is, Asians who are native English speakers living American lives. Yes, that sounds mighty narrow of me, but I live in Baltimore, so go figure.

While the croissants are decent enough, they nowhere near rival those I can get in Baltimore and certainly pale to those I buy in Paris, but they are decent. The coffee is good enough that I'll drink it but nothing special and yet I felt compelled to visit a second time and will probably visit again on subsequent visits to the Bay Area while staying around SFO.

If the croissants aren't amazing and the coffee isn't stellar, just what is it that holds my interest? It's the people. The friendly couple who run the place - I presume they're either "together" or married. I find it fun that the guy prepares his sandwiches and food with straight seriousness while wearing a chefs jacket and the woman handles the orders and prepares the beverages. There's a romanticism to Le Croissant Cafe that I imagine I might have taken if my life had gone in a different direction. Man and woman. Mom and Pop. On the quintessential American Main Street. Just Lovely.

In fact, I imagined that if my brother Al and Polly started their own little cafe that this is what it would be like, complete with little nieces and nephews running around.

I wish I could be a regular there.


Le Croissant Cafe
1151 Broadway Avenue
Burlingame, CA 94010
650-348-9988

Eating Emcee

Midday meal for the hungry emcee.

When you're stuck in a hall all day long, speaking incessantly into a microphone trying to entertain hundreds (okay, maybe just seven) of people, you get a bit hungry. And what better way to stave off that hunger than by bringing along a bag lunch of goodies from Choux Choux Charcuterie and Fol Epi?

I don't know what it is but the girls at Choux Choux are typical French. Or should I say, typical French outside of France? The people I met in Paris were actually quite nice, which is quite unlike the French outside of France. Maybe they're just angry that they're stuck in what they consider to be a world filled with mediocre food (and they wouldn't be far from right), or maybe they just don't like being outside of France, or maybe it's all just an act to keep interlopers like me away from the saucisson sec.

Whatever the case, I'm waiting. And it doesn't matter that they're there, I'm standing there, or that it's ten minutes past their opening time. They're French. I'm not. They're unhappy they're not in France and, therefore, I must suffer and wait.

Meanwhile, I spot a meter maid starting to write me a ticket and quickly deposit money into the meter. She's unhappy (maybe she too is French) and challenges me if I only put money in the meter because I saw her coming - what am I going to tell her? The truth??? Silly Lapin, parking tickets are for kids (and suckers who say "yes" to that question). Needless to say, she wasn't too happy with the answer.

Finally, after a bottle of wine and four cigarettes, the ladies of Choux Choux decide that I've paid my penance and they allow me into their hallowed halls.

Now, I may poke fun at them, but their charcuterie looks very serious. There's a third of a saucisson sec remaining in the case and I take it all. Just give me the hunk and another entire link. What's that? That's it? No more saucisson??? Sacrebleu! Well, how about a recommendation? Csabai? Okay, 100 grams of that, a round of La Tur cheese, some dijon and a nice slice of pate maison.

Add to that a fresh baguette from Fol Epi and suddenly you've got a meal for champions to fuel your day!

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Rushing towards San Francisco at a not so high velocity.

For by visit to the Bay Area, Hertz gave me a new Nissan Altima. They originally offered me a minivan but a proper bachelor in San Francisco says "no" to a minivan - only a true 1978 Chevy "Love" van with tinted oval windows and shag carpeting will do.

The Altima is pretty slick. Smooth, compact and powerful. Tiptronic transmission and I'm thinking I too could drive like Dale Earnhardt Jr (sans wall, please). Stomp on the gas and the power comes on nicely. Before you know it, you're pushing 95mph and wondering if that helicopter shadowing you is D.E.A. or the California Highway Patrol.


Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.


The Altima rests before prowling in Burlingame.

In-N-Out On The Fry

Double Double, Fries and a Coke.

I'm rolling out ot San Francisco today and risking missing my flight to Victoria because I've diverted to In-N-Out Burger in Millbrae. I know all about the "secret" menu but I can't get anough of the simple Double Double burger with pickles, lettuce, tomato, onions and good ole' Amerkun cheese.

And as much as I enjoy In-N-Out, I have to be honest: the fries suck. They cut the fries fresh and then finish fry them in oil, resulting in a fry that never gets quite crips and always turns soggy. For such a great burger, the fries have always been an utter disappointment. Luckily, I was customer number three today and the girl had plenty of time to fry my fries a little extra crisp. Turns out these were the best fries I've ever eaten at In-N-Out. I just wish they would blanch the fries first. Then nothing could assail In-N-Out.

Oh well, on to Victoria...


Proportional Goodness.

Another Double Double and Fries for the flight to Victoria.

Sebastopol

The Maestro Himself prepares TruBru coffee.

After an early morning hanging out with the Ecco Caffe crew in Santa Rosa, I've found my way over to the little hamlet of Sebastopol, which seems to be Ground Zero for the local and sustainable movement in Northern California and perhaps The World.

I've come to visit Mark Inman of Taylor Maid Farms whose "what was once old is again new and revolutionary" concept of a bean store has been on my mind since we discussed the concept back in June. I'll leave the details for Mark to share with you but the basic concept is nothing new in the coffee industry but certainly unexplored in this barista "Third Wave." Beans, beans, glorious beans. With 58% of Americans drinking their coffee at home, it makes for a compelling argument.

What I expected to be a two hour max visit turned into an all-day excursion of coffee, food, fresh fruit and artistry. Luckily, I don't plan much in terms of a schedule which allows me to enjoy these spontaneous bursts of learning and education.


Sweet Corn and Mushroom Risotto at K&L Bistro.


T-Rex at Patrick and Brigitte's house.


Fresh pears on the kitchen floor.


A gift for Jack Woltz...


Brigitte entertains the crew while Robin eats a pear.


Real customers featured in Taylor Maid's new campaign.

Incanto

A glass of Greco di Tufo Loggia della Serra 2007, Terrdora.


A selection of breads and a very tasty olive tapenade.


House-marinated Olives.


Each glass of wine receives a tag - clever!


Marinated Local Sardines, Celery & Radish.


Lamb Fries Piccata & Bacon.


Spaghettini, Sardinian Cured Tuna Heart, Egg York & Parsley.


Pork Belly, Watermelon & Purslane.


"Milk & Cookies" - Chocolate Chip Cookies & Vanilla Egg Cream.

On the Way to SFO

Ready For Takeoff

Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh and the Apple iBook G4 it replaces.

I never seem to learn that I need to vet new technologies before I go on trips. Without fail, there's a mad rush at the last minute to get everything loaded and into place.

My new Dell Mini 9 netbook with Mac OSX Leopard is now ready for it's maiden voyage on my trip this weekend to San Francisco and Victoria, Canada. Weight has always been the concern and now I'm shaving off pounds from my baggage. Needless to say, I'm very excited.

I'll report back as the travels develop.

The Tri-Cities Tribe

Faith checks out the scallops.

Since his territory was transferred to New York City, Daryn Berlin of Counter Culture Coffee brought the Tri-Cities Coffee Tribe together for one last "Huzzah!" at Woodberry Kitchen. Attending the very delicious dinner filled with large, family-style helpings of Springfield Farm ribeye steak and dayboat sea scallops (no rain or disasters this time TRue...) were the people from Peregrine Espresso (Washington DC), Tryst (Washington DC), Ultimo Coffee (Philadelphia), Spruce Street Espresso (Philadelphia), Lovers and Madmen (Philadelphia) and, of course, yours truly (who devoured more scallops than logical).


Ultimo enjoys (sort of) his first oyster - ever.


The Tri-Cities Coffee Tribe gathers.

ph: Bouncing The Banquette

Our new Church Pew takes a ride.

In spite of the fact that I only operate one espresso bar, I've actually designed a surprising number of coffeeshops, at a rate of about one per year. Of course, these designs were all for projects that never materialized or fell apart at the eleventh hour, which makes it kind of odd that this project has gone past the eleventh hour into actual build out. Guess there's still more opportunity for it to fall apart...

It seems that I've come to love the banquette. It's appeared in three of my last designs and I can't seem to get enough. For Project Pantalon Rouge, I thought of hot read leather banquettes on oak floors and gleaming white walls. Very hot. In the designs for project hampden, the banquette took a more reserved tone. Natural wood casing with rich, supple dark blue fabric. Tre chic, que no?

Until the day I stopped by The Loading Dock in Baltimore City. The Loading Dock is one of those reclamation kind of businesses where you can find all sorts of reclaimed and salvaged building materials. There they had row upon row of salvaged church pews. They had both painted white curved pews with upholstered cushions and curved dark walnut pews. I thought then that it would look good in project hampden's neutral colored environment, but the curved pew presented a bit of a dilemma in how much space the seating area would occupy - and space is at a bit of a premium in project hampden.

Then Chris Attenborough suggested I check out Second Chance by Ravens Stadium. Like The Loading Dock, Second Chance does reclamation as well as architectural salvage. Walking through Second Chances warehouse is tantalizing indeed. I wish I had an infinite budget and 10,000 square feet because there's some killer stuff in there. Luckily, they had the ten foot dark wood straight church pew I was looking for - at a killer price: $15 per linear foot.

A hundred and fifty bucks later (plus $75 for the Enterprise rent-a-van and $30 for lunch with Gerry - who I conscripted to carry the thing), we're chugging down the road with a church pew that's ten times less than the custom banquette I was planning.

A church pew may seem a bit too non-secular for some and maybe a bit disingenuous to others, but it helps reclaim materials and I'm all for that whenever possible. Troy Reynard has one in his living room. While his is more modern in design, mine is definitely more "old church" in design.

As I was pondering the possibility of using the church pew instead of a banquette, I remembered that most banquettes I've sat in were just uncomfortable. The seats were slightly too high so my feet were never fully on the ground. A church pew doesn't have that problem and they're designed so that parishioners can sit comfortably for hours on end (especially during Christmas High Mass).

Not that project hampden will be hosting a High Mass anytime soon.

ph: SamSeal

With photos like this, maybe SamSeal will sponsor project hampden and save me eighteen bucks!

I've never refinished a floor before. I certainly have thought about it, but never have I actually done it. Until now. With a little guidance, it was surprisingly easy and for a few moments, I thought that I might change vocations - going door-to-door, bringing a little happy-happy joy-joy to peoples' lives by refinishing their hardwood floors.

ph: Morning Coffee

The first cup of coffee in project hampden.

This morning I'm back in project hampden, to the first nice summer day we've had in a month, with coffee in hand fretting about my upcoming trip on Wednesday, will I have everything done in time before I leave? Really, I'm starting to see how foolish it was of me to schedule trips in late August and September. So much to do and time just runs out.

Most of the work we're doing in the space has been completed. Except, that is, for this one piece of floor trim that I've been mysteriously avoiding. Ever have those little tasks that you keep putting off? This piece of trim has been mine in project hampden. It's a gap in the floor trim that's needed to be filled in since we took out the knee wall and I've just been avoiding it and I guess I can avoid it no longer.

Otherwise, things are moving. Had an estimator come in for the plumbing and electrical work. The millwork quote is in and we're slowly rolling. I'm hoping for a 2009 opening - but no later than 2012...