Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

Editorials: Welcome to the Bloghouse

Apparently the new buzzword is that everything needs to be a "house". City Market in Whitefish Bay is now a "bakehouse". Is the perfectly good word "bakery" no longer good enough? I've likewise had my fill of the ubiquitous pink ribbon, symbolizing the otherwise very worthy fight against breast cancer--and I'm, like, the world's biggest fan of breasts. (Alas, my search for the "boobhouse" remains, to date, in vain.) I think that regrettably, the only imagination addressed by marketers is the white middle-class imagination. The age target tends to be either below 30 or above 45 or 50. I don't like this any more than anybody else, but am afraid it's simply reality. In an effort to capture that imagination and prevent it from moving out to Mequon, the contortions become ever more agonizing. I just love language--and, you know, reality--too much to see it fall victim to those who market to the SUV/granite countertops crowd.

Photos: Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Stone Creek Whitefish Bay

Photos: Glendale/Whitefish Bay: No Caption Required?

Yep, that's my favorite kind of home fitness too.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Starbucks in Whitefish Bay

Summertime, and the livin' is easy in Whitefish Bay. A reader and I were discussing the merits of Starbucks' pourover program. I praised the effort. Sure enough, tonight I had the first cup that was perhaps no better than regular drip. Still, on the whole, I think pourover is better.

Alterra: Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Alterra Bayshore

When I was a boy, a weekday evening tradition was for my Dad and I to walk over to Bayshore. Tonight, I was at Sears--one of relatively few stores to have survived the decades (just a couple decades, mind you)--and I found myself realizing that I were ten years old and here with my Dad. Father's Day is coming up before long, so maybe the sentiment is timely.

I'm trying Alterra's coffee of the week, the Tanzania Kanyovu Peaberry, as espresso. Someone else had the same thing while I was here, which is extremely rare. In any event, it's phenomenal, probably the best I've had here in months.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshot: Alterra Bayshore

I have to reaffirm my recent tweet about Alterra's best baristas being at Bayshore. I'm auto-free today, so I'm waiting out the rain while enjoying a double espresso (of course) and a Local Yoke-El sandwich.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Starbucks in Whitefish Bay

One of the most interesting trends to notice during the three years of this blog (how old is that in human years) has been Starbucks' change of course. I have to give them points and props galore for making the switch--at least in part--to brewing by the cup. This in light of the fact that "apple pie frappés" are, I kid you not, in demand among their customer base. (A woman just ordered one and left in an almost huff when told it wasn't available.) Though the focus changed quickly to a perhaps inevitable gender-based marketing campaign, the pourover program remains strong. I'm enjoying the Sumatra, and I must say it's killer.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Stone Creek Glendale

Well, *I* think it's warm enough to sit outside today! I'm at Stone Creek Coffee in Glendale, sitting out on the porch enjoying a mug of the Organic Sumatran--made with the newly installed Fetco brewers--and a banana bran muffin. The mug is going to need a refill with steaming brew in order to keep my ba... er, fingers from freezing off.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Alterra Sulawesi

Trying the coffee of the week as both espresso and drip coffee. Liking the drip better so far, but the doppio isn't bad either.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Panera in Glendale

I know I'm overexposed, but for some reason, Panera in Glendale seemed especially creeptastic today.  Mostly, it was the music.  The jazz seems to meander endlessly, with no discernible start or finish to the pieces.  The architecture is likewise formless.  Being there for perhaps the first time without a laptop (which is on the fritz), as a solo diner, I didn't know where to direct my attention other than trying to analyze the bizarre wall decorations. Rather like a Starbucks, the environment is designed to be consumed in a two-minute burst while grabbing and going.  If you stay and soak it in for half an hour, it's oddly disjointed.  Even if I were grabbing and going, I'd notice some odd design quirks--if there for the first time, when I walked in, I wouldn't know where to go to place my order.  A good space to contrast it with is City Market in Shorewood.  That's a space that makes sense: when you walk in, Boom!  You walk straight to the register to place your order.  You then have your choice of two sides of the restaurant at which to sit (I wonder if it has been around long enough to have had a smoking section).  Of course, once seated, you run the risk of dining within earshot of a group of people discussing grout--but that's another story!