I have a big “duh” coming my way. I should have known Blue Bottle Coffee would make a perfect cappuccino. I wait 30 minutes for my drip coffee every Sunday at Temescal Farmers Market, which makes my retired navy pilot father laugh with pity as he threatens to bring a giant Thermos of Navy coffee to sell to the folks in the Blue Bottle line. I assume the espresso drinks will take longer, so I opt for drip every time. My mistake. The cappuccino is flawless, as you can see.
Thanks to our friends at Very Good Taste in England, we’ll take a break and play a little game. Join us? Top my 77/100?
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl – I grew up in SF for crying out loud.
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar -One of my best memories, Germany 1996, BFF, Cuban Cigar.
37. Clotted cream tea -another fine memory involving a hot English punk rocker in Bath.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal- not one of my finest moments
56. Spaetzle- with rabbit at Le Cirque. Sweet Jesus!
57. Dirty gin martini- I’m still dehydrated
58. Beer above 8% ABV- Brother Thelonious
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads- I even got my previously veggie husband to enjoy them at Campton Place.
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake – yes, yes, yes and yes
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe- that was a rough night in Spain, I think.
74. Gjetost, or brunost – Husband is Norwegian, so that pretty much makes me a Norwegian.
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail – See my review on The Prospector
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky - Try the Pocky for Men. It’s made with Dark Chocolate.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers – that is so 1999
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Once you have had your life changed by a perfectly made espresso drink, it’s tough to go back to the schlock that helped you through college. Traveling to Europe only makes this inevitable snobbery worse. I think SF should be able to compete, as we do in bread, restaurants, wine, chocolate and cheese. But no, we lose. It seems like most cafes and cafe patrons are too obsessed with size, speed and bottom line (pun intended), so a cappuccino is often served in a 12 oz paper cup, even when ordered “for here,” a shot or two of espresso is poured into the cup, then a random, inconsistent amount of scorched milk is added, and then piles of dry foam sculpted like an ice cream sundae adorn the top. I don’t even order cappuccinos anymore, unless I see ceramic cappuccino mugs warming on the espresso machine and the menu does not offer large, larger and massive cappuccinos, flavored mocha’s or green tea milkshakes. And even then, I have only found two places…
Ritual Coffee Roasters (pictured) and
Tartine Bakery.
Are there any other Bay Area cappuccino snobs out there who can suggest another haven?
I have a big “duh” coming my way. I should have known Blue Bottle Coffee would make a perfect cappuccino. I wait 30 minutes for my drip coffee every Sunday at Temescal Farmers Market, which makes my retired navy pilot father laugh with pity as he threatens to bring a giant Thermos of Navy coffee to sell to the folks in the Blue Bottle line. I assume the espresso drinks will take longer, so I opt for drip every time. My mistake. The cappuccino is flawless, as you can see.