andrewbarnett Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 5 Location: Sonoma County California Expertise: Pro Roaster
Espresso: La Marzocco Linea 3 group Grinder: DRM conical burr Drip: Chemex ( pre soaked filter ) Roaster: Diedrich IR- 12
Posted Tue Apr 25, 2006, 9:13am Subject: Help out Steve Ford - a shining light in the Barista community!
On Sunday April 9th , Steve Ford , a "shining light " of our coffee community sustained extensive injuries, fracturing his back and ankle, following a precarious fall from the 3rd story of a Port Costa, California hotel room .
Many of us have had the great fortune to know Steve through his exquisite coffee at Ecco Caffe, Bluebottle and Zoka. Always there to serve us with kindness, humor, intelligence, innovation, grace ,and exemplary craftsmanship. Steve touches hearts daily with his inspired artistry and true coffee spirit.
Mark and CoffeeGeek.com have provided this forum thread and are running a free banner site-wide so we could put this paypal link for everyone to use for sending contributions to help Steve 100% of all donations received will go towards Steve's medical care.
dogmilque Senior Member Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Oakland/Santa Rosa Expertise: Just starting
Posted Tue Apr 25, 2006, 9:46pm Subject: Re: Help out Steve Ford - a shining light in the Barista community!
Howdy all, Steve "shining light" Ford here,
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped get this together. I wanted to send along the message that I am doing well and recovering. I'll keep you posted as I know more.
And for all of you who are interested in the morbid details, I've written the story out in a couple different places.
RitualEileen Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2006 Posts: 1 Location: San Francisco Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: FB-70 Grinder: I just got a Virtuoso for... Drip: French Press Roaster: 1919 Probat
Posted Wed Apr 26, 2006, 1:19pm Subject: Re: Help out Steve Ford - a shining light in the Barista community!
There are lots of great things about Steve Ford.
He pulls a killer shot of espresso and knows how to capture it on film. He makes clogs look manly. He can't do a pull-up to save his life.
But my favorite thing about Steve is that he taught me how to say no.
Thanks to Steve, when someone comes to Ritual and asks for an iced cappuccino, we say NO! A non-fat macchiato? NO! A gibraltrar to go? Nope, not that either. A latte with no foam or extra hot? Good luck.
What is that worth to me?
It's priceless.
On behalf of the 16 baristas who get to say "No!" to iced cappuccinos, Ritual is donating $200.
tonx Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 61 Location: los angeles Expertise: Professional
Posted Wed Apr 26, 2006, 3:51pm Subject: Re: Help out Steve Ford - a shining light in the Barista community!
On behalf of the board of directors of tonx.org, I have drained the last five bucks from the tonx.org paypal account for the BrokeBack Steve back-repair fund. I believe at the $5 donation level you only get your name written on a single dose of Hydrocodone. At the $50 level you probably get to sign his ankle cast, which is certainly a goal of mine when my funds permit.
The girlfriend and I wish Steve a speedy recovery.
Posted Sat Apr 29, 2006, 8:08pm Subject: Re: Help out Steve Ford - a shining light in the Barista community!
Okay... I'm in at the ankle cast signing level. And I hope they get him out of the hospital soon - the coffee there truly does suck.
When I was in the Bay area lst January for business and to celebrate my birthday I had the privilege of meeting Steve through a mutual friend. Great guy... very passionate about coffee, truly an asset to our industry and fun to hang out with when a group of us went to Ritual to do shots. And he pulled some great shots for me at the kiosk when I visited there. Get well soon!
P.S. Eileen - I was supposed to look you up at Ritual when I was out there and pass on greetings form Mike at Casa @ Cupcake Cafe. Sorry I missed you and failed to do that but I'll try again on the next trip.
SonnyFL Senior Member Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 6 Location: FL Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Solis Maestro Vac Pot: French Press Drip: Melita/Aerobie Roaster: Fresh Roast Plus/iRoast 2
Posted Sun Apr 30, 2006, 5:56am Subject: Re: Help out Steve Ford - a shining light in the Barista community!
I heard about you on the coffeegeek podcast and can tell your colleagues admire you. I wish you the best in your recovery and wish our country didn't leave folks like yourself in this kind of situation. What good is health insurance if it doesn't cover our hard working motivated, and obviously talented americans? This is my 1st post on the Coffeegeek forum. I encourage others who have heard your story and perhaps visited your blog to see what happened and to help you out.
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