It's snowing like mad here in Stamford, CT. So much so, that at the moment I can't even try to get "home" to my brother's house, which happens to sit at one of the highest points in town. There are simply too many drivers out there who don't know what they're doing to make an effort. Better to wait it out (at a Cosi) so the DoPW's plows can do their thing.
This place feels/looks like the SUV capital of the world. It seems 2 of 3 vehicles on the road are SUVs of some sort. Not surprisingly, our garden variety 13-year old Volvo has passed many of them on the slick roads. The Swedes knew a thing or two about designing a car to handle snow.
But that's neither here nor there, other than to explain why I'm sitting in a Cosi instead of some great independent cafe. What I really wanted to say was that I'd really like a decent cup of coffee right about now.
While this region is among the wealthiest in the country, there is virtually no cafe culture here. And virtually no cafes. Stamford is a city of 110,000 people. There are five Starbucks here (not counting the ones in bookstores and Target, et. al.) There are three independent cafes. None can pull a espresso shot that matches what any barista at the top dozen or so Pittsburgh shops can do (or maybe even the dozen after that). Crema? LOL. Latte art? ROFLMAO.
This morning I tried a place I'd never been to before - but it's in the same space as the former Tango Cafe, which boasted Intelligentsia coffees and bar skills before it closed in 2005. So I had some hope that I might find a good cup.
The owner wasn't around to speak with. I asked a barista who roasted their beans. She said, "Dark". I said, not "how" are the beans roasted, but who roasts them. She said, "California." I ordered a small cappuccino. They use Mazzer grinders (same as ours) and a Faema, which is not a bad machine. But it was all over when I saw the foam. Big bubbly stuff, too hot to drink.
What is so hard about this?
I see a menu of coffees available - it's a respectable list, short, but representing the major growing regions. I order a Harrar. But the Harrar not on the menu of coffees available TODAY. Nor is anything else I'd want to order. I get to choose between a dark roasted house blend or a medium roasted Sumatran.
Mt. Lebanon has it all over Stamford when it comes to coffee. And it would seem Pittsburgh has it all over the entire Fairfield/Westchester County area.
Hopefully some day the folks who run the good Manhattan shops will find their way to the burbs, or at least provide training to the shops that are here. For an area with so much potential and so many decent restaurants, the lack of a place to get a decent cup coffee or espresso is alarming.
See you Sunday.
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