I sleepily entered the back for of Denver’s Bardo Coffeehouse and mumbled something to the barista, or is he a baristo? 🙂 and within moments i had my quad-americano… deliciously strong and perfect for my Monday.
This place stays open until 4:00am on weekends completely full of locals chatting, sharing, or working in solitude. They pegged it! Congratulations on your success this far!
By David Ryan Polgar (Hartford, CT Resident Blogger)
From now until March 11, West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park will be presenting the musical “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
Clipping from an article about Espresso Yourself in Winterset, IA
Kindergarten, however, is not the only place where we learn a thing or two about life. For me, everything I need to know I learned in a coffeehouse. If you want to learn about people, grab a cup of coffee and sit down. A coffeehouse provides an ideal environment: customers are well-fed and caffeinated, conversations are free-flowing, and the background music creates a soothing ambiance. Also, given the close quarters, time spent with your drink usually includes overhearing coffeehouse conversations. This unintentional social spying has taught me a lot about relationships.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people go on first dates at coffeehouses. While an upscale restaurant might seem like the obvious choice for the occasion, a coffeehouse makes sense. An upscale restaurant requires a large financial and time commitment—a coffeehouse date is affordable and allows for an open time frame. If the meet-up is going bust, one party has a quick escape hatch. No need to awkwardly utter, “check please.” People, however, are usually at their sharpest when they just finished a double espresso. The likelihood for a spark is greater.
What’s interesting about sitting right next to couple on their first date is that I am an accidental player in their life. How important that date is in the grand scheme of their lives depends on future events that I’ll never be aware of. If the first-date couple go on to marital bliss, then I become a minor actor in a story they will repeat for forty years. “Remember our first date at the coffeehouse…”
I’ve also noticed a great amount of similarity in how first-date couples talk to each other. It’s what I like to call the Greatest Hits Conversation. Given that they don’t know each other well, each person runs through their top hits—their best stories. It’s a selective, well-curated, display of who they are. The greatest hits are catchy and memorable, so there is a good chance that the other person will tune in and nod along. What happens, however, when that couple moves past their greatest hits?
This is what separates the couples that grow from the couples that perish. After the greatest hits have been played over and over, one person either tunes out or digs deeper into the other person’s catalog of stories. As the first-date couple moves along in a relationship they’re either going to develop an appreciation for the b-sides and rarities, or they’re going to decide that they just liked the catchy stuff.
All of this, and more, is on display as you finish your coffee and scone. As Ferris said in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” A coffeehouse is a great place to catch it.
David Ryan Polgar is a West Hartford resident.
Char was our barista.  She works for her sister at Beans & Sweets in downtown Las Vegas, NM about 4 miles off I-25.
You can see she enjoys her work, but her passion lies in the sweets.  She bakes all of the goodies in the window right there on site.  We found ourselves buying one scrumptious goody after another.  First a peanut butter cookie, then a baby loaf of banana bread landed in my bag, and can you believe we also bought a brownie and a chocolate covered peanut butter ball. I can’t remember what she called it, but it was ALL to-die-for!!
They  just repainted this little spot and had to shut it down for several days, but after being part of the community for so many years it didn’t effect business one iota.
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What a darling little spot just off Highway 285 north of Santa Fe.
It was hard to resist the homemade goodies that David, the owner of 1 1/2 years offered in his bakery display. Â He makes everything for the cafe on his own, and you can feel the love!
He is able to sustain his business by the patronage of the locals as this area of New Mexico’s peak season is only in the summer. Â That leaves about eight months of slow business where the tourists (like me) are hard to come by.
Ojo Caliente is a town that features mineral healing pools to relax in. Â If you have never been there, you really should visit. Â It is a magical part of the high desert country. Â We camped in the RV park walking distance to the springs for $20 a night with water and electricity. Â The website for the spa is www.ojospa.com.
Hope your day is great!!
~Lisa
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Good morning americano … extra bold with wakability!
Read More“Coffee went up for the first time in 5 years, gas prices went up, and wheat went up so the pastries went up … all of those things. But, I think it was the right time for a place like this, a gathering place.”
The community responded in a big way. Â Â “People constantly came in and said, ‘What can we do to help you last?'” Meehan said.
Tucked in the middle of a residential street, on the corner of Ohio and Emerson, Wash Perk is now a destination location.
On a Friday morning, it’s bustling.  “This is actually slower than normal,” said barista Jessica Engman. “Usually there’s a line out the door.”
The shop is full of people reading books, surfing the web, even doing business.  “When I work from home I work from here. It’s a good place to work,” said Andrew Myers, who travels from his Capitol Hill neighborhood to hang out on the comfy couches inside Wash Perk. Since opening the doors about four years ago, Meehan’s business has grown to 16 employees. She has expanded the shop twice.   “It was like the day we expanded the space our sales went up,” she said.
Wash Perk reaches more customers with a bicycle coffee cart, called the Perkolator, which Meehan rides to Washington Park in the spring and summer months.
“Everything she’s done and put into this place comes from her heart,” said Brian Spinner, who considers himself a regular. Â Â “It’s just a good place. Good environment, good people,” said another customer.
“I do believe that there’s a bigger purpose other than just selling coffee, and it’s clear by the fact that there are so many people that support us and feel so connected and how our staff feel about being here,” said Meehan. Â “It’s more than me and it’s more than coffee.”
