Drink Some More

I went to the Triple A diner in East Hartford, CT the other day for a company breakfast. As usual I ordered coffee to go along with my meal, and as I sipped it, I came to ask the question: Why can’t diners serve good coffee? Thinking more about this question, I really have to extend it to most dining establishments. Why can’t restaurants get coffee service right?

Thinking back of my experiences of drinking coffee at restaurants, I was reminded of a time at Barcelona Wine Bar in New Haven, CT. This is a classy tapas bar that has amazing food, but when it came to our after-meal coffee I was hesitant. I asked the waiter what coffee they use for their espresso and he returned with a condom shaped wrapper to show me. It was pod espresso! Not even Starbucks uses pods, and their standards lately have been seriously lacking.

It is not all bad, however, when I went to Craftbar in New York, NY, the coffee was actually the best part of the meal. This gave me hope; maybe some restaurant care about their quality of coffee, maybe.

Why is it that restaurant coffee is so bad? Does good coffee cost that much more than run-of-the-mill coffee restaurants use today? The second question is easy to answer, and if the price is not that drastically different then it is the restaurants fault no serving us good coffee to begin with.

I am not sure why, but I have felt the urge to get away from the Starbuck’s Brand for a little while. I am not sure if it is because of the complete failure of a new roast Pike’s Place is or the fact that I have had just way too many of their Cappuccinos lately.

I was walking around Blue Back Square today and noticed that Au Bon Pain has finally opened. In Blue Back Square, you have three different options for your caffeine fix. First, you can go to the Barnes & Noble Cafe, which “Proudly Serves Starbucks.” Second, you can go to It’s A Grind. And Third, you can go to Au Bon Pain. Since my car was closest to Au Bon Pain, I thought I’d give their cappuccino a try.

I has been probably more than 5 years since the last time I was in an Au Bon Pain, and I did not know anything about anything 5 years ago. I got to the counter and ordered a medium cappuccino. It was actually hard for me not to say “double tall non-fat cappuccino,” but I did! When I received my cappuccino I noticed the large size of it; I should have went with a small. However, I wanted the caffeine and thought this medium would do the trick.

Let me first start in saying that the cappuccino isn’t half bad! I, sadly, have nothing to base it on because in all the other coffee houses that I go to I add a shot of espresso. This cappuccino was very mild and really lacked that good espresso flavor. However, what flavor that was there was pretty good. I have to say that I am impressed with Au Bon Pain’s cappuccino, though if I had the choice I would definitely go elsewhere!