Posted Mon Oct 14, 2002, 10:16am Subject: Boston weekend - mini-trip report
I accompanied the ex-girlfriend to a wedding in Boston this past weekend and although my espress and coffee experiences were limited, herewith is the report:
Late night arrival Friday to Copley Square Marriott. Stopped in a Mass Turnpike rest area on the way and was pleased to find a real live espresso bar that was operating under the Lavazza name. They were closed due to the late hour but I made a note to try them on the way home.
Saturday breakfast was at the Brasserie D'or (or Cafe D'Or - something) like that. It's on Huntington a block or so down from the Marriott and serves up a very good breakfas, albeit at high prices $30 for two people without tip). The good news is that they serve an excellent cup of coffee. It was actually the best coffee I've ever had in a conventional restaurant (at $2.95 it should be but I've paid that much elsewhere and gotten mediocre swill).
After a Korean language wedding and a fun reception with some Korean disco music.... we headed back downtown and took in the Boston production of "hedwig and the Angry Inch". I saw the priginal show in NYC five times and the folks in Boston are doing a very credible production - highly recommended. After the show it's off the the "North End", Boston's Little Italy. I had asked the forum regulars at www.egullet.com (for foodgeeks - worth checking out) for recommendations and Cafe Vittoria was the choice. Cafe Paradiso had also been mentioned - we walked by it afterwards and based on appearances we made the better choice. Vittoria is huge, quanit, very lively and busy and the staff is incredibly efficient. It appears (based on signage) that they're using Lavazza beans but don't know which variety. We had two capp's, a Tiramisu and a slice of Ricotta Pie. The desserts were stellar - best Ricotta Pie I've ever had and the Tiramisu was right up there with the best. The capp's were incredibly smooth with perfect dense and velvety foam. They had sprinkled (without our requesting it) a dark chocolate powder atop the foam and it melted nicely to the foam and the rim of the cup (which was obviously preheated). I was hesitant to order a doppio due to the high customer volume that night but they delivered the orders so darn fast I should have done so. Regardless, the capp's were excellent and the total bill was about $13 with tax. Paradiso had a more modern look and was much smaller - perhaps a quiet place to hang out but we liked the lively atmosphere at Vittoria. The ex has been to Italy many times and felt that the sense of ambiance compared favorably to cafes she has spent time in over there. There are far more restauirants than cafes in the neigborhood and be forewarned that like much of Boston, things start to close up by 10 or 11 PM.
On our Sunday trip home I stopped at one of the Turnpike service area Lavazza bars to try it out. Yuck! The staff appeared to be poorly trained, the back bar was horribly laid out - very inefficient workspace and it obviously slowed down the production flow - a giant open rectangular area with lots of wasted space and far too many steps between machines for the workers. It was just as bad on the customer side with no sense of where to line up and no waste receptacle by the coffee condiment bar. The good news - they had a really cool looking Faema E71 machine and a piston style semi-auto tamper. More bad news - they were really sloppy on the dosing, the steam wands had a huge build-up of crud that hadn't been cleaned off and the milk was not frothed properly - spotty dry foam and no body to the milk. To add insult to injury, they didn't use enough espresso relative to the volume of milk. Apparently a medium and a large both have a double shot and the only difference is the volume of milk. I never thought the day would arrive that I'd yearn for a *$ when out on the open road.... I humbly submit that compared to the Mass Turnpike Lavazz bar, the 'bucks would be a welcome alternative {:-(
koffeekev Senior Member Joined: 21 Jul 2002 Posts: 646 Location: Connecticut Expertise: Professional
Posted Tue Oct 15, 2002, 1:33pm Subject: Re: Boston weekend - mini-trip report
I-95 south in Fairfield, Ct has the same set up with practically the same results. They have a new Faema (I want to say "Diplomat") and it really is thing of beauty. Too bad it's useless. Kevin
Posted Wed Oct 16, 2002, 4:52am Subject: Re: Boston weekend - mini-trip report
Yeah.... a great machine is useless in the wrong hands. The rest stop I went into the first night when they were already closing up the espresso bar had a much better setup from an ergonomic standpoint. The bar was long and narrow with access on two sides. Sort of "J" shape with lineup and ordering on the long leg and pickups on the short leg side. Not a perfect arrangement but far better than the other one and the employees didn't have to walk extra steps for every shot and transaction. I waited table and tended bar years ago and it's amazing how many people pour big bucks into a restaurant or bar design and never consult the professionals who work these areas on what works best and doesn't.
The saddest thing about this is that many people will try the product and think that this is what a good espresso or latte is really all about (and may not bother getting them again because they got such crappy product).
Posted Mon Oct 21, 2002, 5:35pm Subject: Re: Boston weekend - mini-trip report
I visited Cafe Vittoria about 4 years ago, back when my bestfriend was still living in Boston. I also had the cappucino. And the dark chocolate powder that melts so nicely on top of the foam....it's nothing more than Nestle Quick powder. Or atleast that's what the barista told us. It actually tastes much better than it sounds...plus it makes a nice presentation once it's all melted.
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