…but first, my caraganas are lookin’ fine! Relatively easy trim (no ladder work, hooray!) and here’s the result as of this afternoon:
For comparison’s sake, and I know I’ve posted this pic before, but not juxtaposed with the above image, was one year ago:
New fence is also evident. I’m happy. Paint job on the house next door is very nice, too. Our car is the Sonata in the “before” pic, only thing that’s not improved…
And so… coffee news! Exciting times in Calgary for the coffee geek and the geek-in-training. I happened by Caffe Rosso today, which is a charming little coffeehouse in Ramsay, which is directly east of the Stampede grounds and very much up-and-coming, and had a long chat with the owner. I mentioned my research project and how I’ve become resigned, because of my lack of external funding, to doing interviews and fieldwork in Calgary and not in more stereotyped third-wave coffee hubs like Portland or Seattle. But, I noted (and I only really reasoned/articulated this today), Calgary is perfect for my project, because it’s transforming far more than those other cities. A year ago I’d have counted six third-wavers in Calgary: Java Jamboree, Kawa Espresso Bar, Bumpy’s, Phil and Sebastian, DeVille Luxury Coffee, and Caffe Artigiano, with Kawa and DeVille having been open about month. Today? Add to that list a second DeVille location, with their excellent beans from Intelligentsia (with “Chow Bazaar” in the Colours condo tower on 1st Street SW), A Ladybug Cafe, serving JJ Bean coffees made with a La Marzocco FB-80 on the far west side of town (2132 Aspen Stone Blvd, past 85 St SW), a second Caffe Artigiano at Shell Centre (Shell is at 3rd St and 4th Ave, but the entrance for CA will be on the 3rd Ave side of the complex), a retail location (huzzah!) for Phil and Sebastian opening late summer at the Shops of Marda Loop, in the retail level of the new six-storey condo building currently in the final stages of construction at 33rd Avenue and 20 Street SW; a new shop called Insomnia Cafe in the Burns Building (which is the grand old white building attached to the Epcor Centre, right at Olympic Plaza), which opens TOMORROW, and which is pulling delicious (I got a sample) espresso made with Fratello’s “competition blend,” first coffeehouse in town to do so to my knowledge, and then of course there’s the afore-mentioned Caffe Rosso, which started out using the recogizable but not very strong Illy espresso but is now sourcing from Boston’s respected Terroir roastery. So we now can lay claim to no fewer than TWELVE third-wave shops in Calgary. And that’s not even counting Caffe Beano, which does have its third-wave sensibilities, and the ever-improving and even downright “serious” coffee treatment you can find at the many locations of Good Earth Cafes around town.
Let me talk about Rosso a bit, because I’d been avoiding it because I’m not a fan of Illy and I was dismayed to know that a shop with such fine equipment (a Synesso espresso machine) would “waste” it on Illy, which is famed and famous but which is unavoidably stale when it arrives on our shores. I reconsidered this aversion when I realised that Rosso would be an opportunity for me to sample Illy in its best expression and so I decided to give it a try. And… they’re no longer using Illy, but as I mention in the last paragraph, Terroir (and are the only ones in Calgary, maybe in all of Canada, to do so). So here’s my chance to grab some beans from that roaster, and I set off today.
Caffe Rosso is in an odd location, an industrial area that’s across the street from a characterful residential part of an interesting inner-city neighbourhood called Ramsay. The plot it sits on is inside industrial lands slated for massive redevelopment as something to be called “Ramsay Exchange,” and the owners are real pioneers in this regard, but there is lots of housing adjacent and really nothing in the way of retail, so there is method to the seeming madness of their location. Here’s the view as you approach it:
Quite cute, really; look beyond this fence and try to imagine condo towers and a retail village, because that’s the plan and I hope it comes to fruition:
Inside is calm and comfy, and contrary to what the cinderblock facade might suggest, there are big windows on the sides of the cottage and lots of natural light. I took a pic but can’t seem to locate it, sorry, but I encourage folks to check it out; it’s close to Crossroads Market and a unique refuge. I had an espresso and it was very good, nice temperature and very balanced, not unlike Intelligentsia Black Cat. I bought a pound and look forward to trying it at home.
So there are coffee things happening downtown, in the Beltline, in Marda Loop, in the ‘burbs, and even in this unlikely setting in Ramsay. And there’s more to come.
