Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Alterra Bayshore

One of my two or three best Alterra espressos ever--at any location--at Bayshore tonight, courtesy of barista Chris J. It's the Espresso of the Week, the Kenya AA Nyeri.  I'd been formulating the thought that this is becoming the "reference" Alterra location.  If this doppio doesn't seal the deal, I don't know what would.  

Snapshots: Stone Creek Coffee

 

I'm in a nostalgic mood of late--and sitting by a fireplace, which always seems to coax nostalgia--so here are some memories of the local independent coffee scene.  Those who are relative newcomers to Milwaukee might be surprised to learn that Stone Creek started retail stores at roughly the same time as Alterra (Spring 1993) and, as I recall, was ahead in retail operations out of the gate, maybe until about the time Alterra opened their Prospect Ave. store.  In my estimation, the present dynamic began when Alterra began to offer the menu of soup, salads and sandwiches--what I think of as the "Heinemann's business" that is so wildly popular in Milwaukee.  I also have to admit I don't remember exactly when, or at which location, the expanded food menu was first offered.  It may have been Bayshore, but it may have even been as late as the opening of the N. Lincoln Memorial Dr. location in 2002.

It's important for me, I think, to keep this in mind.  Stone Creek often strikes me as très 1990s--the now out-of-fashion dark roasts, the relatively large volume of liquid in a double espresso--but this is to be expected.  I actually think it's a fun throwback on many occasions, especially when the A-Team baristas are on duty as they were at the original location in Whitefish Bay this morning.  I haven't had the same job since 1993, so it's impossible for me to imagine what that kind of longevity or continuity entails.  

Snapshots: You Are Now Entering Service Industry Hell

(First in a series.)

I was at Starbucks in Shorewood and was just overcome with this overwhelming feeling that I needed to get out of there.  I haven't had that feeling for a long time.  (I suspect that has something to do with my overall Starbucks avoidance for the past year or so.)  Better to move a block down to Stone Creek and sit among les Prétentieuses.  That's not Stone Creek's fault, it's nearby UWM and Shorewood High School...um, no offense to my 53211 readers.

Anyway, a series of upcoming posts will be entitled "You Are Now Entering Service Industry Hell" and "You Are Now Entering Retail Hell".  I'd been tossing them around in my mind, so my Starbucks visit seems to be the perfect occasion for the launch.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Bayshore

I've always been struck by the weird apartheid of post-renovation Bayshore.  The North wing, as you walk towards Sears, is kind of one like one of those interactive museum exhibits where you're walking backwards through time, except instead you're walking down the socioeconomic ladder.  I mean, you almost expect them to have a little button you can press on the wall to hear the voiceover--perhaps in front of the place where women have their nails garishly done or the one with the Scarface drawings.  "You are now 90 days behind on your bills," a voice would smoothly intone.  "Creditors are calling day and night (sound of phone ringing)."

What a shame.  Sears used to mean solid, middle-class consumer prudence.  And solid, prudent middle-class folks used to shop there before they got hooked on hyperconsumption crack.  In fact, as a little kid, I was so solid that my Mom brought me there for Husky+ jeans.  (And, alas, while wearing them, I didn't always say no to crack.)  

I'm not sure exactly why, but today, Sears' Bayshore location now seems to have that air of poorer-than-poor about it.  I'm a little mystified by this--I mean, you can have low-end retail without that air (Tarzhay anyone?)  Today's retail world, especially when it comes to soft goods, is so much about selling a narrative. Who in their right mind would buy the Sears narrative?

Just to be there feels poor.  I usually end up going there two or three times a year to buy a winter coat or something, and on two recent occasions, the line has been held up because a customer's payment method failed. My heart always goes out to them, and I wish I could just say that I would pick up their tab.  The opposite of this phenomenon would be Trader Joe's, which, ironically, offers the best value proposition of any retailer I can think of--and is frequented almost exclusively by upper-middle class consumers.

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Bruegger's

I'm at Bruegger's in Whitefish Bay.  The Green Mountain Coffee is really good.  I think I've reached the point where I subconsciously come in at off hours so they have to brew a fresh pot--which they always cheerfully volunteer to do.

Bay View Breezes: Snapshots: Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.

I'd been contemplating a drive down to Anodyne over the weekend, but the matter was settled earlier today when I read on their Facebook fan page that they were serving the Costa Rica Naranjo Herbazu.  In addition to grabbing the pound, I enjoyed a magnificent double espresso and a mug of drip Costa Rica.  The grand total came to $14.13.  I think Anodyne will be $5K Challenge-friendly. 

 

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Panera

I'm at the Panera in Glendale this time, having wanted to see if this one was any better than the divey location in Mequon.  The answer is yes.  Oddly, the salad--the same one I always get--is appreciably better than the ones in Mequon.  Don't they all get trucked to the stores from some central commissary, presumably in Chicagoland?  The dark roast coffee is also better here--I had some right after they switched out the pots, and it was almost in the Alterra ballpark of quality. 

Mequon: Snapshots: Fiddleheads

This beautiful salad--like all salads, I find--is extremely difficult to eat in a dignified manner.  Fortunately, I'm the only customer here! 

Unfortunately, I'm racing the clock, as I got here at about 5:20, it took a good 15 minutes for my hands to thaw enough for my fine motor skills to return, and they close at 6.

Cedarburg: Snapshot: McDonald's

Today, I did my customary weekend walk from Mequon (more like Thiensville, really) to Cedarburg and back.  I stopped at the McDonald's in southern Cedarburg for a McCafe latte ($2.52 with tax).  I was welcomed by a friendly and talkative upper middle-aged man behind the counter.  I don't mean this in an insulting way, but I believe he was a little mentally slow.  I mention this only because he provided customer service that was remarkable--all the more so because one could hardly fault him for being pouty or having a bad attitude.  Instead, he somehow managed to demonstrate that he is overqualified for the position at McDonald's and, indeed, would be an outstanding employee in many rather more upscale environments.    

This brings to mind something I've been thinking about a fair amount lately: we're a service economy, and if we mess that up, there ain't a whole lot left.  Customers are a pain in the ass--as are people in general.  I understand that.  I suppose the best strategy is to try to positively reinforce good service.  Just now, for example, as I was walking to Alterra at Bayshore, I noticed the young woman behind the counter at Caribou Coffee smiling at customers and wearing a pleasant expression even as she half-noticed me walking by.  I don't care much for Caribou, but I think I'm going to make it a point to go in there later.  Smiling--or at least not scowling--when you look in another person's general direction seems to be a lost art these days.

I'm not just trying to be Lawrence Welk.  I think the bottom line is this: if you're a business, you should think that a customer spending his or her hard-earned money with you is the coolest thing in the world.  This is elusive.  I don't know that the problem lies with me, as I had a strong sensation of this feeling at Cartel Coffee Lab in Tempe, AZ--which, as I noted then, is over 1700 miles from here.  I also observed that attitude being communicated to their other customers.

The latte at McDonald's?  It was terrible--and I'm not putting that on the gentleman I mentioned earlier; creating the latte awfulness required a team effort from all three employees who were working.  I wish it had been otherwise, but so be it.  I think the point still stands.

East Side/Riverwest: Snapshots: A Thousand Words are Worth a Picture

I've been ambivalent in my relationship with technology lately.  Tonight, however, proved an unfortunate night to leave my newly acquired (thanks to John) iPhone at the office.  This evening's double cappuccino at Alterra--made with the Espresso of the Week, the Blue Heeler--deserves a starring role in a digital image.  Actually, I'm wondering if doesn't deserve even more.  In our image-saturated time, it seems like a rare pleasure to wrap one's mind around a well-crafted text.  A pleasure that I look forward to enjoying sometime is a French Press of French Roast and a pile of the world's most intellectual newspapers.  I'd better do it while the latter still exist--perhaps during my next vacation.

On the unstable surface of Sam's cappuccino, the latte art was etched in three dimensions.  Seemingly, a thousand holes presented a dynamic, breathing interface between the drink and the air above it.