Syrup Service

Velvety smooth and ready for service.

It's milk delivery day at Spro and time to make more chocolate syrup. As I meet people in the industry who ask: "what syrups should I buy?" I always wonder why they just don't make it themselves.

True, it's not easy to make your own syrups. Simple, but not easy. However, it's not a monumental task and when you use really great ingredients, the flavors shine through in a stellar fashion.

But using great ingredients also means increased costs. I don't know how much it is to buy commercial syrups but I know that our ingredients are some of the best we can find. It also helps that we only offer chocolate and vanilla syrups, and not the plethora of flavors that so many coffee shops across America offer.


Gotta have nice labels. Scissor cut, of course.

Chocolate syrup is really quite simple. Just take two cups of heavy cream and heat it in a pan with one cup simple syrup until it starts to simmer.

Perhaps I should note that the simplest way to make simple syrup is to take any container, fill it halfway with sugar, top off with hot water and stir until dissolved. This will give you a roughly 43% sugar simple syrup and can be used as a base syrup for just about anything.

Once the cream and syrup mixture has come to temperature, pour it over 16z of your favorite chocolate (the darker, the better - I think) and whisk it together until smooth. Note: it's going to be easier if you chop a block of chocolate into pieces or use couverture: little round discs or chips.

Whisk until smooth and use as necessary. Refrigerate overnight and use within seven days. Longer term storage is possible via freezing. If you do refrigerate, be sure to place container in a bain marie (hot water bath) to re-liquify the chocolate sauce so it passes easily through a squeeze bottle.

As a side benefit, you can cool the sauce, allow it to solidify, scoop out little ganache balls, bathe in chocolate, allow to harden and voila!, you've made your own chocolate truffles.




This week I'm also trying a little different approach to our vanilla syrup. Utilizing four whole vanilla beans, ends cut and split in half, in a half gallon of simple syrup. I'll allow it to steep in the fridge for about a week before using for service.

Otherwise, I'm just dying to get out into the warm weather again.

Strawberry Affo-Paco

Strawberry Ice cream straight from the Paco Jet.

Opening a new shop and trying to find the time to cram everything that you want to do into it is proving to be a challenge. Coffees need to be cupped, selected and approved for service. New baristas need to be sorted, interviewed, trailed and trained. Signature drinks are begging for development. Alternative beverages are screaming for attention. Makes me wonder how one is supposed to develop a menu?

It's summer and ice cream is on the mind. We have PacoJet. We have a hardening freezer. What we don't have is a service freezer. Turns out that I over-estimated one undercounter space and underestimated the depth of another refrigerator, leaving us with a space that's too small to fit the intended freezer. Screwed.

In-between scouring the internet for suitable workaround freezers, it's time to do something with the stacks of strawberry flats sitting in the lab. Strawberry ice cream and strawberry lemonade come to mind. Heck, come to think of it, how about strawberry lemon sorbet???

But first with the ice cream. Found a good starting point from The Cooking of Joy. No additives or stabilizers, just simple and natural ingredients.

One of the problems with doing multiple tasks is that you get distracted and instead of macerating the one pound of strawberries with 1/4 cup of sugar, I ended up macerating it with 395 grams of sugar - a bit too much...


Strawberry Affogato.

In the end, the mix was a bit on the sugary side and I think the excess sugar gave it what Ilenia describes as a "yogurt like" texture. For the next batch, I'll have to pay closer attention to the sugar.

As an affogato, the strawberry performed very well. It lended notes of butterscotch and candy to the Hines espresso. Burnt caramel and other pleasant notes rounded out the finish. That one might actually make the menu when we get the service freezer in place.

Asian Pacific American Month at City Hall

Doing The Humpty Dance

You know your day is going pear-shaped when you find yourself tumbling down a flight of stairs holding a bus tub filled with ceramic and glass...

Somewhere along the way, you start to wonder: Gee, just how did this happen? Then, you might start thinking: Crap, this is how people are killed. Of course, that's when you start to realize that falling down the stairs with a tub full of glass means that it's shattering everywhere and showering you with glass shards.

In mid-tumble, you wonder if you really are tumbling or just kind of bouncing off each stair tread. Sliding? Unlikely. Painful? Well, you're too preoccupied with trying to find a way to mitigate the damage, if possible.

It's not until you're lying on the concrete floor, trying to figure out if you've broken something, or seriously injured yourself, that you begin to realize that maybe this kinda sucks.

There's still no pain. Not really. You're too stunned to cry out or curse. You're just assessing the damage to your body: can I move my body parts? Do I feel my body parts? Seems like everything is still there and in working order.

Only then do you notice that your hand is bloody.

And your shirt is torn.

And you're covered in glass shards.

When you finally get around to picking yourself up off the floor, you try to keep the glass particles from falling into your eyes and notice that hey, you're actually kinda messed up.

Luckily, pulling away the torn shirt reveals just a small puncture wound and lacerations on the tummy and you start to take inventory of your damage:

- Lacerations on the forearm
- lacerations on your shin
- lacerations on your face
- bruises all over
- lacerations on your palm

And a seriously deep cut on your finger that's spewing blood all over.

Good thing you wear black clothing.

Sadly, gauze bandages and pressure don't stop the blood emanating profusely from your finger. Is it severed? No, not really. But a Flintstones Band-Aid isn't going to stop the flow. Time to go to the hospital.

That's when a new calculus kicks in: do you call the ambulance? It's not that serious but an ambulance might be helpful sympathy from your girls later. Then you remember hearing that it costs $400 to have an ambulance come to the scene - pass.

Maybe you should call someone to ferry you to the hospital. It could generate sympathy from the girls but a true swashbuckler would simply grab some thread and sew himself back together.

Okay, I'm not that tough.

In the end, I piled on the paper towels, changed my shirt and jumped into the car to drive myself to the hospital. Much cheaper and I have my own wheels to go wherever I want after the hospital. In a couple of hours, I'll be fine, sewn back together and on my merry way.

But for now, the biggest thought is how much it's going to cost to replace the serviceware I just shattered and embedded into my skin...

Bucking Tradition

And it started a little something like this:

Did you know coffee is the world's second most consumed beverage after water?

One minute coffee is the second biggest commodity next to oil and now it's the second most consumed beverage after water. Sometimes I just don't know where people get their data.

In the world of specialty coffee, there's always something that gets the cognoscenti riled up and their panties in a bunch, this week it's an article in The Atlantic by Giorgio Milos of Illy Caffe causing everyone to dig up their pitchforks and don pointy white hoods...

His crime? Stating that American espresso sucks and that we here in the Good 'Ole U.S. of A. don't know what we're doing with coffee nor making espresso.

Um, boring...

Truth is, most American coffee is truly terrible. It's horrid, horrific and disgusting. Walk into most any coffee joint in America and chances are that I'm going to order an iced tea. Espresso? Forget about it. While my friends are willing to be adventurous and try an espresso, I won't. I'm too scared.

Anyway - Milos is traveling the nation as a coffee emissary espousing The Italian Way of making espresso coffee. He's giving lectures and demonstrations and I think that American Third Wavers are planning protests and perhaps even a hunger strike.

As for myself, I'd like to know when he's coming to Baltimore so I can attend his lecture.

Not to protest or to stage a hunger strike (that would be stupid) but rather to listen and perhaps learn.

Sure, what Milos has to say might be irritating but he's got a point: the Italian Method. Maybe there's something to learn from his discussion? Maybe not. Either way, to simply work yourself up into a frenzy and dismiss him outright because he thinks American espresso sucks is just myopic. American espresso does suck and maybe he might have some ideas to make it better. Or at least it might be a nice way to spend a morning listening to strange Italians talking about strange ways of making coffee.

The truth is that it matters little to me that Milos doesn't like American espresso, nor if he did not like our own espresso. The reality is that we're not doing "Italian Espresso", we're doing American espresso, or more precisely: Progressive American Coffee. Which means to say that while we're grounded in tradition, we're also exploring coffee beyond the mainstream, beyond what's expected. It also means that if Mr. Milos came to our little espresso bar or shop and found our coffee not to be in the Italian Tradition, that's okay too. It wasn't meant to be that Italian Tradition.

Personally speaking, I don't know why so many of my peers are so up in arms over this. Are we too insecure in our craft that we quiver and fall by those who criticize our craft? The Italian Tradition is rich and storied. The American Method is new and unexplored. I'd rather stick with our genre of exploration and experimentation than remain tethered to "tradition."

Bo Brooks

Cool Bandages and Back to Work

Six Is The Magic Number

No Pain No Gain

Lidocaine - Otra Vez?

Lidocaine!

Gross!

Waiting While I Bleed Out

At Least Bracelets Are In Fashion

Oh, Crap

No Power Tuesday

The BGE guy reattaching the power.

It's just past noon, I'm having a meeting with an advertising exec and the power goes out. Whaaa?

Turns out the power lines from the adjacent building were pulled out of their mounts causing the entire block to lose power. No power means no coffee means no customers means no revenue. What better way to combat the no revenue situation with a lunch out at Iggie's?


Caesar Salad with Anchovies.


Antipasto Plate - Sopressata, pancetta, red peppers, asparagus, mozzarella, taleggio, Garbanzo beans & bread sticks.


Bex and the Fughi - mushroom ragu, leeks, mozz, goat cheese


Milo & Mico - Tomato ragu, anchovies, capers, olives.


Lindsay digs in.


Diavola - hot sausage, tomato ragu, 4 cheeses, olives, hot peppers.

Ah, Macarons!

|
Joseph and his pastries.

I've always admired the work of Joseph and his Patisserie Poupon. Classic French pastries - what more can anyone ask for?


Raisin, pear and cheese danishes.

Joseph stopped by this afternoon to bring some samples for a quick tasting and to talk shop for a little while. His pastries are transcendent. They're delicious and rival the greats of Paris - places that are warm to my heart. We talked pastry, coffee, ice cream and more. In all, it was a pleasant, enjoyable and tasty afternoon.

Patisserie Poupon arrives at Spro Hampden on Wednesday morning.


Bex holds up a macaron, Devlin approves.


Ah, macarons!

Frickin' Frisee

Controlled bath egg cookery.

It's Mother's Day at Spro and what better way to spend the day than playing with eggs? Forget that my mom is in town and I could be spending time with my parents and relatives, I've chosen to work with eggs, dammit!

Yesterday's farmer's market was a good adventure. Lots of great stuff and some truly delicious strawberries, along with these incredible spring onions. I bought as much as they would sell me.


Ten, Eleven and Twelve minutes.

Today, we're playing with eggs in a controlled temperature bath at 75C to see just how we can create poached eggs. Yesterday's 13 minute test yielded a yolk too firm. Today we tried ten, eleven and twelve minute eggs. Ten was too runny. Twelve was getting firm. But eleven yielded good results. Eleven minutes and twenty five seconds though seemed just right.

From there it was just a bit of frisee from Gardener's Gourmet, a little bacon from Woolsey Farm and some country croutons from Atwater's bread, mix it up with a lemon olive oil dijon vinaigrette, top with the poached egg and it makes for a quick lunch. Maybe we'll bring it to the menu.


Frisee Salad - with Woolsey Bacon, Atwater's Bread & Springfield Egg.

iPad: Stupid

My array of Apple Communication devices.

I've been playing around with my new iPad 64GB for just over a day now and every time someone asks me what I think of it, my only reaction is: "Stupid." I'm just not that enamored by the iPad.

To me, it's really just a very large iPod Touch, or an iPhone without the camera or the phone. It's kind of awkward and clumsy to hold and read. You want to put it down but then it's lying flat and you want to angle it, but to do that you have to prop it up with something (though I'm sure someone is selling an overpriced stand for it) - and Belkin is selling a cover for Fifty Bucks.

It's a relatively fast unit to surf the web, but I think that's more because of our connection at The Spro than anything else. It works pretty well and while I'm still exploring its applicability, I'm not enthralled by the unit nor it's expensive price tag.

Worth it? I doubt it. Unless you're someone who thrives on having the latest techno gadget. Otherwise, it's hardly more exciting than my three year old, first generation iPhone.

Cupping Like Mad Men

Going Barefoot in the Spro Lab.

Since my name resides on the menu, part of my job entails tasting coffee samples from our roasters in an effort to determine which coffees make it to our menu. With opening the Spro Hampden and then my journey to Los Angeles, I was a bit behind. Now comes the madness. It seems that everyday has some sort of cupping component to it. Coffees from Origins, Barefoot, Counter Culture, Intelligentsia and whomever else has decided to send us coffee recently.

Our process is relatively simple: we receive samples, we cup them, determine which ones we like and then bring them in for service. By working with a variety of great roasters we're lucky to have a selection of wonderful coffees to choose from. The predicament becomes out of such a great field of offerings, which ones do we actually offer to customers?

In addition, we're also doing tastings with potential vendors, testing new brew methods and experimenting with components for a new menu. Which makes for an interesting first week back from my trip.

Today's been mostly a Barefoot day and while I do enjoy all the coffees they sent over, I'm currently leaning towards their Redcab Brazil.

Explosive Dreams

Now that I'm awake, I can't tell if these were multiple dreams last night or multiple dreams over successive nights.

But I specifically remember at least two parts of these dreams that both featured major explosives. Like I'm standing or sitting in a room, maybe it's a flat or a coffee shop, and then suddenly a building across the street explodes with the detonation of a bomb. A very large bomb.

Not large enough to blow out the windows, but large enough to rock the house and create a massive fireball. Is it far away or near? I can't really tell. But there were at least two parts to this dream and two separate bombs. Then lots of sirens.

If dreams hold meaning, I'm wondering what these dreams mean....?

Woodberry Roll

How we roll: Blagny '99, Son.



Hanging at the oven.

Forty-Five Seconds

Kimmy inspects the new 64GB iPad.

If only Kimmy had called me five minutes earlier... Heck, if she had called me 45 seconds earlier, I would not have purchased the iPad.

I was standing there talking to Daniel when she called to tell me that there was an issue in Hampden and then I told her I would come down. By that point, I had just swiped my credit card into the reader. Dammit!

For whatever reason, I felt compelled to visit the Apple Store and check out the iPad. Did I want one? Not really. Before it came out, I thought it was stupid. Like a big, stretched iPhone and what good is that? But over the past month or so, I started to slacken on my stance.

Maybe we could create a document on the iPad that would replace our paper worksheets at the shop? Maybe it could become our communication center for emails and Tweets with customers? Maybe we can do more with it for the business - all for no less than $500. Stupid, I know.

But I couldn't help myself. I couldn't leave. Or, I left, went to Williams Sonoma and then came back. After discussing it with Daniel the Business Genius, I knew I secretly wanted one.

I should have left. But I didn't. I needed to go to Crate & Barrel. But no. Finally, I broke and told Daniel I would take it. Give it to me now!!! Dammit!!!

Daniel finished up with his customer then went into the back to get the fresh iPad, then proceeded to tell me about Mobile Me and AppleCare and all sorts of other details before actually processing my card. Kimmy could have called me any time during that time period and I would have had to pull out and depart sans iPad, but no...

She called just as the card was being swiped and I had the iPad - BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Precious is mine!

Now what am I going to do with the damn thing?

Phi, Phy, Pho, Phom.

Lamarie and the Spring and Summer Rolls.

It's a beautiful, sunny day in Towson and Lamarie is in the mood for pho - that Vietnamese beef soup that's slightly pungent and cloyingly sweet. For many years, if you wanted pho you had to drive about half an hour away, or suffer with versions unworthy of the name. Not too long ago, the Columbia-based Pho Dat Than opened a Towson location and we've been rejoicing.

While I don't think they're as good as other pho joints, they're the only game in Towson and, therefore, the best. If only they could get their service issues cleared up, they would be a winner.


Pho My Style: Everything with raw beef on the side.

We've gathered today to discuss Lamarie's impending departure from Spro Towson to return home to Oregon and pursue a career in styling. She's got talent for beauty and while I'm sad to see her go, I know it's important that our people pursue their dreams.

We also discuss shop talk. Are we running out of coffee? Milk? Tea? Lindsay gives us an update on who's bothering her in Hampden. Who's causing the most problems and who's making life generally difficult. Not surprisingly, it boils down to one person outside the company. The Hampden baristas are unified in wanting to get rid of this person and I'm seriously considering it.


Lindsay breaks down who's been irritating her today.

Otherwise, it was a lovely afternoon. A little time with some great people. People who I enjoy being around and people who I admire. What better way is there to spend your Thursday afternoon?

Sight & Sound: Video

Ana calls to discuss the finer points of our trip to London.

Maybe I'm just a bit weird, but after much time trying to avoid it, I finally have succumb to video chat. The best thing about video chat is that it's cheap and doesn't burn your cell phone account. The worst thing about it is that it's just, well, strange.

You're talking and you want to look at the screen, but the camera is placed just slightly above the screen so you (and your partner) are constantly looking somewhere else and everything is just slightly off. That's when the media side of me kicks in and remembers to look into the camera, then I can only see the camera. Argh! Maybe they'll find a way to incorporate the camera into the screen so it actually looks like you're looking at each other.

Either way, it was actually kind of fun.

Paulina Rubio is Embarrassed

Ah, Paulina...

Or I should say: "Paulina Rubio esta embarazada."

Yes, yes, I know that embarazada does not mean "embarrassed."

But it's Cinco de Mayo here in the United States (and around the world too) and while Americans of all spectra are spending this evening partying it up with tequila, margarita, nachos and other miscellany that passes as "Mexican Food", the rest of Mexico is going about their usual business.

In Mexico, according to Anita and Sylvia, "Cinco de Mayo" is simply the Fifth of May. Everything is normal. There's no drunken partying and playing of Ranchero music, other than what normally goes on. In other words, it's just another day.

Only in America do we celebrate Cinco de Mayo. In fact, El Universal, Mexico City's largest newspaper had no mention whatsoever about "Cinco de Mayo." The biggest news? That Paulina Rubio is pregnant. That Nick Nagera dude is one lucky guy.


Cinco de Mayo menu en Espanol.

In spite of this little hiccup in understanding Mexican culture in America, we decided to run a little special today at Spro Hampden - a little Caffe d'Olla, the traditional Mexican coffee boiled with piloncillo sugar and cinnamon sticks.

But simply taking a pre-mixed Caffe d'Olla wouldn't be thoughtful enough, so we took some of our PROISH Organic coffee from Chiapas, brewed it in a french press then mixed it with some house made d'Olla syrup consisting of piloncillo and canela boiled down with water for a decent facsimile instead of actually boiling the coffee together, which tends to highlight the bitterness of the coffee.

Add that with a little rewrite of the Spro menu with my shaky Spanish and voila! a little Cinco de Mayo celebration sin tequila.

Maybe it's time to go out for a couple of drinks...

Another Day

Lindsay, Bex and Ilenia discuss the finer points of pastry.




d'Olla Syrup base: piloncillo, canela and water.

Popsicle at Swirl

Orange Popsicles - summer is coming!

Six Minute Abs

In the movie There's Something About Mary, Ben Stiller's character is driving across the country with some psycho convinced that he can sell America on Seven Minute Abs. Stiller's character then contradicts the psycho with Six Minute Abs and the guy starts to lose it.

I was reminded of this scene by an industry colleague today who sent me a link to a news article about a New York City coffee shop/roastery selling the "$12 Cup of Coffee."

Needless to say, I was amused.

Six Minute Abs...

Woodberry More

Sarah and her "panini".

Back in Baltimore, back at Woodberry. Kate was supposed to have dinner that night with some older guy that's checking her out, Allie was working and Sarah wanted something to do, so we met up at Woodberry for a little snack and to gawk at Kate's date - they were a no show.


John The Butcher's Plate.

Thanks Sarah!

with Allie of Woodberry Kitchen.

The Last Smoke

Romeo y Julieta #2 replicas.

It's the last Friday I'll be in town for some time and the boys have gathered once again in West Hollywood for our weekly smoke.



A slice of cheese.



Bolivar Exclusivo Alemania


Laith


The Porn King