Living in a city where houses are practically stacked on top of each other, it’s pretty hard to be anywhere where a dozen other people aren’t at the same time. It’s a pretty special thing when you find a place that at least has the appearance of being still undiscovered. We’re talking hole in-in-the-wall cafes, which still look awfully cute [...]
One of my favorite things about Valencia Street is the eclectic mix of old and new. While the new appears to be quickly overtaking the old, one can still easily stumble upon a storefront that has been there for a decade in the midst of new businesses. I’d imagine some people are probably amused that a decade-long existence could be [...]
If you’re into coffee at all, you’ve likely spent a fair amount of time on Valencia Street. If you’re into baked goods, you’re in the right place. As a Twitter follower of the Black Jet Baking Co., which delivers cornmeal shorties and Devil’s Food Bundt cakes to Ritual Coffee Roasters, I think I fall squarely into both categories. You can [...]
Most of my shopping, eating and coffee drinking is done close to home, given a half-hour walking radius. After talking to several friends about this, I realize we all have a tendency to stay close to home, whether it’s an intentional choice or whether it just sneaks up on you until one day you realize you’ve been at a café [...]
When the sun begins to peak out of the clouds and the fog seems to move on, we finally think it may be summer. We start peering at the iced coffee choices and choosing the outdoor seating when possible — though don’t forget that fleece jacket. We actually wear the sunglasses that have been sitting like ornaments on the tops [...]
For Dylan Cardiff, the first “aha” moment came when he tasted a beer he made using his own sourdough starter. He says it was like reclaiming an abandoned part of the brewing process and he was floored by the fact that his beer tasted good — and that it came from wild origins. He scooped off the liquid top of [...]
Given the wide variety of options at every cafe, we can’t seem to come to a consensus on how to drink coffee. Once you throw in the teas, steamed milks, pastries and sandwiches, it’s no wonder why there cannot be am official “best coffee shop” in town. Do you go to a café to construct a shrine to the coffee [...]
Deep in coffee wasteland, just minutes from the sprawling strip malls along New Jersey’s Route 1, I have spent hours of late night college studying in the comfy chairs at the back of the nearest Starbucks. I purchased, without guilt, $4.75 coffee beverages and packaged madeleines to get me through hundreds of pages of politics readings. Now, I am back [...]
