Alex Clark and Aaron Hagegorn of New York's Ost Café. Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Sometimes it seems like owning a coffee shop is on everybody's bucket list: Travel around the world, write the great American novel, retire and open a top-notch café. Last year, Alex Clark, 26, and Aaron Hagedorn, 33, checked that last one off, abandoning their steady (if somewhat boring) financial-sector 9-to-5s in midtown Manhattan for predawn mornings and late, overcaffeinated nights helming Ost Café in Gotham's Alphabet City neighborhood.

The friends traded in their office desks for Ost's beautiful corner location in an ever up-and-coming part of town -- complete with floor-to-ceiling windows and plenty of sunlight -- in order to live the proverbial dream as small-business owners... but do they think it was worth it? Leave it to the CoffeeMeister to find out.

A cafecito (with a Hemingway Special chaser). Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Doesn't the heat make you daydream about being someplace else?

Someplace tropical and friendly, where the heat is part of the romance -- bellying up to a Havana lunch counter, enjoying the languid spinning of a lazy ceiling fan, the cool droplets crawling down the side of a sweating glass, the tinny tenor of cantador Beny Moré. And, naturally, a coffee.

You're thinking, "Coffee?! Who daydreams about coffee while sweat is making tracks down your spine?"

Me, that's who.

Brutal summer days are made for cafecito -- the thick, strong Cuban-style espresso brewed with sugar that's best when belted first thing in the morning. It may look like a regular ol' espresso, but the extra sweet kick might just jump-start your day a little quicker.

A muy tropical cafecito video, after the jump.

Some proper-looking espresso. Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is the eighth in a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

It can seem like the only thing harder than navigating the labyrinthine menu at a coffee shop is finding one that's worth the hassle. Decoding the signals of a great café isn't always as hard as it may seem: click through for five easy things to look for when trying to determine if unfamiliar territory is the caffeinated friend or foe.

Five signs of a great café -- from silent lattes to barista interrogation -- after the jump.

A sip of this deliciously creamy and smooth cup of coffee is sure to please even those non-coffee drinkers. Similar to the French cafe au lait and the Italian cappuccino, the Viennese melange is a combination of coffee with steamed milk and foam. Unlike cappuccino, this "Wiener Melange" is made with milder coffee and is traditionally served with a glass of water. The accompaniment of water allows the coffee to go down more easily without dehydration.

The experience of sitting in a plush Viennese café with a cup of Viennese coffee, a glass of water and a newspaper seems to awaken the intellect within you. It conjures up images of the Austrian intelligentsia in the early 20th century with characters like Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt.

While in Vienna, I visited several Viennese cafés, such as the famous Café Central, and tried several variations on this deep rich coffee. My favorite, Franziskaner, also called an "espresso con panna," is served with whipped cream instead of foam. I also tasted rich delicious café mocha served with whipped cream. The Viennese café culture dates as far back as the late 17th century.

The influence of the melange on American coffee can be seen in Starbucks and several smaller coffeeshops. One of the best places to try the classic melange is Café Sabarsky located on the first floor of the Neue Galerie in Manhattan.

There's only one sit-down restaurant on the 55-mile stretch of highway between Fredonia, Ariz. and Hurricane, Utah, and it ain't a Denny's. The Merry Wives Cafe in Hilldale, Utah is owned by a local polygamist group which runs the restaurant with a sense of humor and an eye towards curiosity-seeking tourists.

The group, who call themselves The Work of Jesus Christ, are an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (who are condemned by mainstream American Mormons). The owners of Merry Wives hope to dispel myths about polygamy - they claim not to engage in underage marriage, welfare fraud or child labor.

Giggling travelers and local mega-families eat bacon cheeseburgers side-by-side at the cafe - the restaurant has even had to shut down when a family of 50 has taken over. Some guests leave phone numbers tucked under salt shakers, in case a wife wants to escape polygamy. Some get up and leave, horrified, when they realize just where they're eating.

This weekend, if you're in the D.C. area, you should check out the Millrock Free Pour Latte Art Championship. It's held three times a year and features the best latte artists in the country battling it out for a top prize of $5,000.

The practice of latte art has been going on for years, and is an opportunity for local, independent cafes to distinguish themselves from chains. The precision and careful technique required for each masterpiece is appealing to many customers used to the "get in, get out" mentality and rushed service of larger coffee chains. Coffee art is like mint on your pillow in a hotel or a soft blanket on an airplane, delivered without being asked - nowadays, it's unexpected but greatly appreciated, and denotes an attention to detail that is often missing from our day-to-day life.

Contestants compete in "free pouring," a technique in which a slight maneuver of the wrist can produce museum-worthy rosettas, tulips, and hearts on the surface of the drinks. If done properly, the dark espresso brings out the glossy designs in the crema, producing a stunning effect that is almost too pretty to drink. However, in cafes, the deconstruction of the drink by the act of sipping is part of the fun.

The baristas have five minutes to make up to three lattes using espresso and steamed milk, and are rated on beauty, balance, color infusion, definition, and creativity.

Check out this cool Washington Post video of two guys from an Annapolis, Maryland cafe who demonstrate this unique talent.

Now this is actually one of those food/drink holidays that could actually become a national holiday, considering how many people drink coffee and are pretty much obsessed by it and can't function without it..

National Coffee Day can be celebrated in many different ways. You could just go to Starbucks or Peets or Dunkin Donuts, but if you want to make your own coffee drinks, check out the Cookin With Coffee Directory. How about a Coffee Float or Mexican Coffee or this page that has recipes for Coffee Brownies, Coffee Smoothies, and coffee that's perfect for a crisp fall day, which has ingredients that include whole cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom.

You can also check out CoffeeUniverse.com for lots of info on that most sacred of beans.

The fact that Howard Schultz wants to tweak Starbucks operating procedures and the cafe atmosphere to be more appealing to coffee lovers is admirable, given that the current "sterile" formula seems to have brought the company a great deal of success. A recent Time Magazine article goes to show that there is no pleasing everyone, as writer Bill Saporito expresses no pleasure in the fact that the cafe atmosphere might improve. Doubtless, he is expressing the sentiments of millions when he says that all he cares about is not having to wait for more than a millisecond for his cup of black coffee.

Unfortunately for Mr Saporito and people like him, they seem not to realize that just because their drink doesn't take that long to make (although brewing the coffee takes several minutes), that it doesn't mean that other people don't want a latte, a mocha or a cold, blended drink and, as with service in all restaurants - even McDonald's - you have to wait in line. There are also people who like their coffee black, but enjoy a few minutes in a cafe setting in the morning.

Perhaps those looking for instantaneous service above factors like quality, taste and experience should just stop at the convenience store on their way to work in the morning. The coffee that comes out of those automated machines doesn't seem to take that long to dispense and they won't be bothered by all those pesky people waiting for espresso drinks on their way to work.

Forget about regular frosting when the holidays come around. A special day, or night in the case of Halloween, calls for something over-the-top when it comes to dessert, not just a pile of plain chocolate buttercream on a cupcake. This is a ghost cupcake from the Wheatbery Bakery Cafe in Pasadena, California. The spirited treat was captured by Jill of Jill's Notebook. She reported that the ghost was made out of a "marshmellow substance," which sounds like it might have been a very light fondant (the stuff used to smoothly cover wedding cakes), which is very malleable and easy to shape. Underneath the sheet was a mound of green buttercream. Jill didn't report on how it tasted, but as long as the flavor was half as good as the appearance of the cake, we can assume that it tasted great.

If you want to try sculpting a little ghostly sheet for your own Halloween cupcakes, you can usually find pre-made fondant at baking supply stores or at craft stores that also have a section of baking equipment.

[via Not Martha]

David Lebovitz mentioned that France is supposed to ban smoking in restaurants on January 1st, 2007, though the law would still permit smoking in casinos and nightclubs. As happens in every city, state and country that tried to enact such a ban, restaurant and cafe owners argue that it will hurt business, presumably because they think people want cigarettes more than they want food, but studies have shown that a ban is actually good for business. As David pointed out, tables in restaurants turn over slightly more quickly and virtually all customers and employees enjoy a smoke free environment, where it is easier to even smokers to breathe. One more important reason is that food tastes better in a room with cleaner air, where the taste of cigarette smoke is not touching to tongue at every bite.

France is hardy the first country to enact such a ban and it seems extremely unlikely that their restaurant and cafe business would suffer when it has not in so many other countries around the world.

It is about the environment, and it is about politics, but I can testify first hand that shade grown coffee is better for you, especially if you get migraine headaches.

Typically coffee was shade grown in South America, Central Mexico, and Hawaii until large multinational companies razed the forests and slapped together nifty plantations at the expense of the land and the locals. Yes, it's been grown all over the world for centuries, but, as a US coffee drinker and someone who aspires to be eco/politically conscious (not necessarily correct) I am only addressing a particular effort in Chiapas, Mexico. It's called Cafe Rebellion. I interviewed the man who started the fair trade, cooperative there and was impressed. I only drink his coffee now. This is not a plug; he's not-for-profit and wishes to remain nameless, though you can check his site.

So, if you are a coffee drinker, consider shade grown, fair trade, organic coffee. Your pancreas will thank you. The vessels in your head will thank you. Careful with the lighter roasts-- as with most coffees they can kick you into overdrive for hours. On the other hand, organic coffee doesn't have the "crash" you get with a stiffy from Starbucks.

Though the South Beach, Florida store in question was closed for renovations this past Sunday, some mothers gathered at a Starbucks and held a "nurse-in" to protest the expulsion of a woman named Nicole Coombs from the store. Coombs claims that she was asked to leave for breast-feeding her 4-month old son. The Starbucks manager, however, maintains that Coombs was asked to leave for changing her baby's diaper on one of the tables in the cafe.

Coombs states that the store manager asked her to leave while she was breastfeeding. She said she would leave as soon as she was done, because she was so outraged that she did not want to remain in the store. Then, according to Coombs, she proceeded to change her baby's diaper. She does not deny that she changed the baby on the table where people ordinarily eat. Now, the store manager says that he did not say anything to Coombs about breast feeding, which is perfectly acceptable in the store. He contends that he approached her as she changed her baby on the table and asked her to stop. When she refused, she was asked to leave.

I have no problems at all with Starbucks coffee and am often glad to see their sign on the horizon, particularly when I travel. Like it or not, Starbucks is a big part of the reason that it is easy to find a decent cup of coffee just about anywhere. Even if you are served a bad brew - for whatever reason - not only will the Starbucks baristas will replace the offending beverage, but it will still beat the burnt, week-old, brown sludge or faintly flavored hot water that was somehow able to pass for coffee in many places only a few short years ago. This is not to say that there are not places that make better coffee, just that Starbucks helped to raise the bar overall.

I have met many people who claim to dislike them "on principle", despite the fact that the majority of them cannot actually verbalize what their "principle" actually is. Some certainly can converse about their desire to see even more social responsibility or ways to further improve employee benefits, but the ubiquity of Starbucks is generally the favored topic of argument. Overhearing these irate rants can be an amusing experience when they occur inside a Starbucks from the mouths of people awaiting their Frappuccino or their extra hot, extra wet, no foam Venti "cappuccino", which they are unaware is actually a latte. Perhaps they are just annoyed with less-than-instantaneous service, though people who expect a decent coffee or espresso beverage should be willing to wait at least a moment or two for it to be prepared.

But I digress.

Cereality is a popular breakfast food chain based on the premise that people like cereal because it's a good breakfast food. The Surreal Bowl is a cafe based on the concept that people like cereal because it's sugary. They sell cereal two scoops at a time - so you can mix your Lucky Charms and Fruity Pebbles - with one topping and milk. Along with the prospect of combining any two cereals, the range of toppings available amounts to the every 7-year-old's dream Saturday morning breakfast since they include Oreos, peanut butter cups and even gummy bears. Not to worry, there are healthier cereal and topping options, too, but in a room that's full of 50's, 60's and 70's kitsch, including plastic furniture and Felix the Cat cartoons playing on TV sets in the corners, why not indulge and relive your childhood. At least, relive the childhood you would have liked to have if your Mom never had a say in what you ate.

Surreal Bowl
611 Central Ave.
St. Petersburg, Florida
phone: 727-452-1761

[Image Weekly Planet]

Starbucks is making inroads into France, one of the two countries in the world most famous for its cafe culture, but the process is a long and slow one. In France, operating costs are extremely high and the competition is stiff; the long standing national past time of lounging in cafes has produced very high quality coffees and loyal patrons that are formidable competition for the American chain. And though Starbucks is slowly gaining acceptance from its French consumers, the mainstay of its clientele is foreign, which is why Starbucks has chosen to in tourist heavy areas and branch outwards.

Lines form out the doors at Paris locations, mostly of Asian and American tourists. The tourists are likely to order more traditional drinks, like espressos, but come for the familiar feel of the large, comfortable cafe, not to mention the smoke-free atmosphere that they maintain. More and more frequently there are French university students and young professions joining the queue, looking for something over-the-top that they can only find at the American cafe. Starbucks is finding its new niche in the country, despite the fact that there are only 23 outlets in France, compared to more than 55,000 traditional cafes there. Will Starbucks' popularity prove to be real competition for the other cafes? Unlikely, and certainly not in the near future, but it will probably be able to hold its own, even if it operates on a limited scale.