It’s 3 a.m. and I am already drinking my second cup of coffee. For the last ten years at least I have dreamt of owning a little coffee shop. Someplace where I could chat with friends, stretch out my $18,000 culinary school education, and drink that 3rd cup of coffee, assuring my doctor that it was in the interest of research. Well, I finally did it. After a year of searching, planning, and putting it all together, I opened THE LINE COFFEE on April Fool’s Day. And my, I think my place is cute.
With only 400 square feet and barely 10 feet wide, every square inch has been accounted for. With 2 different coffee makers, 3 different coffee grinders, and a rather large espresso machine, I honestly believe that there is as much engineering, hardware, and electronics in my little shop as was in the Apollo space capsules. Coffee making sure is different than the days of grounds in a pot of water that you strain with your teeth.
The drip coffee is a standard, high quality flat filter machine and it makes a fine cup of coffee. The pour over — the Curtis Gold Cup, which makes one golden cup at a time — employs the best of what we know about filtration, dwell time, water temperature and brew timing. That there is one smooth cup of coffee. The 3 group Conti espresso machine looks almost like a throwback from Buck Rogers’s era. That 30’s kind of machine where every switch, lever and button was designed with a specific purpose and style. You have got to love Italian design!
So far, I have just been sort of kicking the tires and breaking in the engine slowly. I have had great help getting the day to day systems in place and have just hired my second employee. While it was always my intent to focus on heavily on the coffee, I am pleasantly surprised to learn that my croissants and cinnamon rolls are becoming local favorites. I even worked out a vegan, gluten free brownie recipe. I am hoping that one will catch on too.
When in the neighborhood of Telegraph Ave and Ashby in Berkeley, do stop in. Just tell you doctor it’s for research.
With Gratitude,
Tommy Judt