Importing Rabies

This week's Farm Side, which will run tomorrow in the Recorder, was written about a recent spate of rabies cases in nearby counties, and about the risks associated with importing dogs from not so very developed countries with less stringent rabies rules than ours.

Since I sent the column on Tuesday yet another rabies case has cropped up just west of here, bringing the total in the past two weeks to four and ANOTHER (!!!!!) dog imported from Egypt has rabies.

 I think we need a better screening process if we are going to fill our shelters with dogs from overseas.

Here are some links on the topic.

CDC on the first rabid dog from Egypt and several others

The new case of a rabid dog from Egypt

200 dogs imported from S. Korea

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Avocado Toast Sneakers Are Real And I Want Them

I have written quite a bit about coffee-related shoes, each time not-so-subtly suggesting that the company give me a pair because of what a big-deal tastemaker I am in the coffee industry. The ploy thus far has been unsuccessful. And I’m done—DONE I TELL YOU—groveling at the trendily shod feet of these brands for a pair of coffee-adjacent footwear. But these avocado toast sneakers, hatchi matchi, Saucony should definitely send me a pair of those.

After what I can only assume was a successful Pumpkin Spice Latte colorway for the Grid SDs—successful enough to not send their old friend Zac a pair at least—Saucony has turned to another ubiquitous cafe offering, avocado toast, for their newest limited edition shoe design. According to Footwear News, the Originals Shadow 6000 “Avocado Toast” is a green and brown take on the brand’s “classic running silhouette.” Per Saucony’s website, the shoe is made of a “toast-ed leather” upper (which some may call babyshit brown, if you use that sort of colorful language), with “smashed avocado textured suede,” and a “red pepper flake speckle collar lining.” The insole features an image of an avocado cut in half, with “Saucamole” written across the heel.

Released on Tuesday earlier this week, February 26^th, the Saucony Originals Shadow 6000 “Avocado Toast” is now available via the brand’s website and through select retailers for $130. And at that price, perhaps this is the avocado toast Millennials are buying everyday that is keeping them from buying houses.

I can’t help but wonder, though, if Saucony knows the difference between a smashed avocado and guacamole. Much of the marketing around the new sneaker is very guacamole-forward. Cilantro, lime, fresno peppers, some sort of chipotle or perhaps adobo spice, these are all things that could reasonably go in a nice guac. I’d prefer jalapeños and I have no idea what those scallions are doing there, so maybe they don’t know what guacamole is either. All I’m saying is, you call that “toast-ed” a “cumin leather upper” and you’ve got yourself some nice guacamole shoes.

And don’t get me wrong, Saucony, I want you to send me a pair of these shoes. But if you want my $130, you’re going to have to make a new colorway that’s some combination of coffee, wine, and queso, because that’s what is most likely to get spilled on my sweet kicks.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Top image via Footwear News

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The Crown: Inside Royal Coffee’s Stunning New Oakland Coffee Complex

In a first look four years in the making, today we’re taking you inside The Crown, the stunning new coffee experience complex from Oakland green coffee importers Royal Coffee.

In a world of cookie cutter coffee architecture and same-same interior design, this is the rarest thing: a new coffee project that dares to look and feel singular. Awe inspiring, grandly scaled, and utterly bespoke, The Crown sprawls across thousands of square feet in a reimagined 1920s auto showroom in the heart of Oakland’s Broadway Auto Row. The size and scope of the project brings to mind other big new coffee endeavors of the last decade, from La Marzocco’s KEXP cafe to the very first Starbucks Reserve store in Seattle. It opens to public on March 4th.

A combination public tasting room, interconnected network of multimedia equipped training spaces, a multi-unit roasting HQ, and second floor offices, the space’s stats stagger the mind. Two separate architecture firms served on the project: Norman Sanchez Architecture (Architect of Record) and Studio Terpeluk (Design Architect). There are more than 15 coffee grinders alone at The Crown, plus seven espresso machines and counting, all by La Marzocco and Modbar. There are Perlick fridges, Curtis water towers, custom glassware from local Oakland all-Japan-everything experts Umamimart, custom ceramics by Created Co., demitasse spoons by Loveramics, custom white oak service boards designed by Tom Connelly (in collaboration with Sandra Loofbourow, The Crown’s Tasting Room Director), and custom white American oak drip trays built-ins from Saint Anthony Industries protecting a fleet of Acaia scales.

The front tasting room is anchored by an enormous custom Chambers Art & Design multi-unit modular coffee bar that can be positioned in various forms: a wave, a straight line, or a Nike swoosh. Beneath the bar there are a bank of custom floor boxes containing electronics and water lines for the espresso machines. The tasting room will be open to the public, offering a range of flights and unique experiences—”stuff that’s not regularly offered to the public,” according to Richard Sandlin of Royal Coffee, who serves as The Crown’s general manager and has helped oversee the project over its four year incubation.

Public guests can walk in and experience an ever-changing battery of farmer-focused coffee flights and tasting experiences, or pick up a quick cup for $2, with a $.25 surcharge on to-go orders (proceeds benefitting Phat Beets). Behind the bar, a pixelated green tile wall designed by Studio Terpeluk “references the color palette and texture of unroasted coffee beans,” as per Sandlin, studded with wall-mounted coffee storage jars.

Past the tasting room, a unique Nana Wall System (imported from Germany and armed with tornado proof glass) provides a unique movable wall infrastructure, allowing The Crown to break their space up into a modular series of units: one large space, four contained spaces, or any combination in-between. A bank of six mobile cupping carts provide cupping space for up to 60 slurpers, all of it built custom in West Oakland by Shada Designs.

The presentation Room has an 133” projector screen. The adjoining brew lab has a 92” projector screen.

The roasting area of the space is fitted out with no fewer than four coffee roasting units, by Proaster, Diedrich, Probat, and Loring, respectively, with custom ventwork spiring up to the top of the space’s 27-foot-high ceiling. Across the bank of spaces, The Crown will offer Q grader certification and SCA courses, as well as tech training, equipment training, and roasting training.

There is no toll roasting. No comfy couches. No public WiFi, no food, and no whole bean sales at The Crown.

If, like me, you are gobsmacked by all of this, have no fear—we’ve been checking in on this project since it was announced in late 2015, and I’m still trying to process what this space means, what it’s supposed to be, and what an independent project of this scale and scope means right now for coffee. For their part, Royal envisions The Crown as nothing less than world-building—an attempt to shrink down the global footprint of coffee into something more accessable, collaborative, public, and open source. “We want to be a bridge to where coffees come from,” says Royal CEO Max Nicholas-Fulmer.

The company sees it as a fight against proprietary knowledge; that by creating a space where the coffee industry is invited to collaborate, they can appeal to a new generation of coffee professionals, especially roasters. They also see it as offering a resource for customers who can’t travel to origin, or even to a coffee competition. The presentation and events space is a major hub for that. “This is for producers to come present here and connect with customers who can’t go,” Nicholas-Fulmer told me during an advance tour of the space. Sometimes those producer presentations will happen digitally, and other times for in-person sessions and events between California coffee pros and coffee producers around the world. “We think this space can increase the knowledge flow between the two.”

“We’re building something that doesn’t fit into an easy category,” says Sandlin. “Is it a roaster? An education and events space? A cafe? Yes.”

“We want this to be a community space for all different kinds of communities,” Tasting Room Director Sandra Loofbourow adds. “Cheese, meat, marijuana, wine. A home for all things delicious.”

For Nicholas-Fulmer, an Oakland native stepping into a CEO roll at a company founded decades ago by his father and uncle, there is clearly a local point of pride invested deep into the project. “We’ve been conceptualizing The Crown for years and our priority was to execute the vision properly, which meant a high level of customization and allocating the time and resources to do so,” he tells Sprudge. “We look at The Crown fundamentally as an investment in our customers and producing partners. Having a venue for producers to showcase their coffees and an educational program which supports the growth and success of our customers is the foundation of Royal’s next 40 years in business.”

Members of the general public can get their first glimpse of The Crown on Monday, March 4th, and the Tasting Room will be open Monday thru Friday from 9am-6pm. A series of cupping events are scheduled following opening day, including a Costa Rica event on March 19th and standing weekly events on Tuesday and Thursdays. A complete listing of upcoming events is available via The Crown’s official website.

The Crown by Royal Coffee is located at 2523 Broadway, Oakland. Visit their official website and follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.

Photos by Evan Gilman for Sprudge Media Network.

Disclosure: Royal Coffee is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network. 

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Rumble

Feel a low growl through the leash, too soft to hear. 

Rumble, rumble, grumble, mumble.

There's something out there. Something that causes the Border Collie concern. If you're a dog you worry about stuff.....however.....

There are fresh, new, tracks where a deer rummaged around under the bird feeders....I left an apple and some spent lettuce out there for the bunnies, but I guess there are opportunists everywhere. Then it strolled right up on the back step, and although only the crescent moon and its favorite planet are lighting the sky so far, I suspect it is out there yet.

Of more concern is whatever left the strange turtle sort of track parallel to the deer path. Possum? Skunk? Tis the season of love for the latter, which used to be a weasel, but now has its own family.

There have been several cases of rabies in nearby counties in the past week. Two raccoons, a fox, and a skunk so far. Must remember to look before I allow the leap off the porch and into the stack of new fallen snow out there.

And in other news, Meatland burned last night. We just started shopping there a few weeks ago...it is kind of out of the way for us, but we were sick of what passes for beef in the grocery stores....the service was wonderful and the pork and beef could pass for homegrown, which is the gold standard for us.

And now it is gone. So sad.

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Different Morphs for Different...er....the same...Birds

This is a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, the darkest I have ever encountered

And this is a light morph. We see a lot of these

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POUR Coffee Festival Returns To Charlotte March 10th

I have long championed the notion that Charlotte, North Carolina is the best coffee scene in America that rarely gets mentioned in the conversation about best coffee scenes in America. For a five-hour distillate of proof, look no further than the POUR Coffee Festival, taking place Sunday, March 10^th at Lenny Boy Brewing. After a wildly successful inaugural event last year, POUR is back and bigger than ever. And this year, they are focusing on their three main pillars: sustainability, education, and diversity.

Created by Diana Mnatsakanyan-Sapp (Undercurrent Coffee) and Matt Dudley (Marco Beverage Systems), POUR celebrates the Southeastern coffee community with a day chockfull of coffee and espresso sipping, educational events, and tasty bites.

“The coffee industry—both nationally and internationally—is growing at such a rapid pace,” says Mnatsakanyan-Sapp, “and we wanted to make sure that all of the ground-breaking, interesting and downright delicious stuff happening in our backyards wasn’t getting lost. This festival is a celebration of the creativity and passion that we see being poured out by our Southeastern coffee community.”

Vendors this year include Counter Culture Coffee, Black and White Coffee Roasters, Methodical Coffee, Summit Coffee, Pure Intentions Coffee, Nightflyer Roastworks, Enderly Coffee Co., HEX Coffee, 4th Dimension Roasters, 1000 Faces Coffee, Slingshot Coffee, Junto Coffee, Cafe Femenino Coffee, Spirit Tea, Haerfest Coffee, Joe van Gogh, Arabica Soda, Verdant Bread, Fūd on the Mūv, Golden and Grey, VP Coffee, and Ally Coffee.

Event topics will range from green coffee buying to water chemistry to coffee tech. But perhaps the biggest change to this year’s festival comes not from the coffee being served, but from the imperative placed on issues like sustainability and diversity. With sponsorship from Oatly, POUR is providing every guest a ceramic mug to be used throughout the day as a way of cutting down waste, moving the festival significantly closer to their goal of being zero-waste. “Last year we only had four 50-gallon trash bags of non-recyclable, non-compostable garbage at the end of our 400+ attendee festival, says Dudley. “This year, we’re taking what we’ve learned and are working to reduce that number even more.”

To help foster diversity within the coffee industry, POUR is donating a portion of all proceeds to Glitter Cat Barista Bootcamp to help get a more diverse set of faces on the US Barista Championship stage to better represent the entire coffee community.

Bad news for everyone just finding out about POUR, though (and maybe a small sliver of good news), even with the event increasing in size this year, it has already sold out. BUT! You should head over to Instagram where, thanks to Mnatsakanyan-Sapp and Dudley, Sprudge is giving away two tickets at this very moment!

There is also a waiting list would-be attendees can sign up for, and should any tickets come available (which they will, speaking from experience putting on local coffee festivals here, they most certainly will), names will be pulled from the list. And if you don’t want to leave your tickets up to chance, you can sign up for POUR’s newsletter via their website. That way, you’ll be the first to know when tickets go on sale and you can stay up to date on other events they are putting on.

The coffee industry needs more events like POUR: local, grassroots, with the entire community in mind. Not just coffee professionals and geeks and not just whatever you picture whenever you think of a coffee person. POUR is for everyone. And as much as I love coffee competitions—covering them is a perennial highlight for me—their benefit is often internal, coffee people recognizing the hard work of other coffee people. Which is great, too, but local, community-facing events like POUR, they can make seismic shifts in their coffee culture far beyond that of even a national or world coffee competition.

POUR is the blueprint. Now you just have to figure out a way to access it.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Top image via the POUR Coffee Festival

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Inside Upper Left Roasters’ New Downtown Portland Cafe

Originally built in 1909, the iconic Meier & Frank building was once home to some of Portland’s busiest department stores. Now in 2019, with the wrap-up of a multi-million dollar landmark renovation project, the building is now home to the second outpost of Portland’s very own Upper Left Roasters.

“Growing up here, I visited this building to come to Macy’s. Now I own a coffee shop here and it’s very surreal,” says Upper Left co-owner and CEO Katherine Harris. The multi-year remodel in the heart of downtown Portland includes a sprawling 10,000-square-foot outpost of Japanese homewares and lifestyle brand MUJI, as well as mixed-use retail and commercial offices across 15 floors spanning an entire city block.

Upper Left has made a name for itself over the past three years at their original location in SE Portland, anchoring a sun-drenched corner of Ladd’s Addition, the leafy planned neighborhood of parks and stately homes designed in a “wagon wheel” shape inspired by Washington D.C. From the in-house roaster to the sunlit interior, Upper Left has set down roots in Portland and has become a staple in the coffee community—the cafe still feels quite like nothing else in the city. For this new project downtown, going from their own brick and mortar shop to fitting in as a piece of a 40,000-square-foot project came with a host of new challenges. Harris and her team embraced the process as they worked to integrate their coffee company into this brand new space.

“This opportunity to work on this project with Meier & Frank has been fulfilling because of how the team came together,” Harris said. “This project takes a whole team, and we’re getting better every day as a team.”

The teamwork does not begin and end with Upper Left solely; in addition to MUJI, the building is also home to The Nines hotel and its nationally regarded restaurant, Departure, helmed by two-time James Beard Award semifinalist (and Top Chef finalist) Gregory Gourdet. This district of Portland is packed with retail options, restaurants, and coffee bars; with other popular brands in the vicinity, it took a pointed effort from Upper Left, the adjoining businesses, and the design team to make sure each individual brand identities would cut through, rather than blending in.

Katherine Harris.

“Our brand translating was important. We wanted to preserve our minimalism, clean lines, and thoughtful construction,” Harris said.

Although they achieved in bringing their aesthetic to life in the lobby, this part of Portland is very fast-paced. From people going to work or shopping at local retail stores, it’s a toss-up whether customers will get the coffee shop vibe when shortly visiting. With Upper Left, Harris ensured they get the full shop experience in a short period of time.

“No matter where you are, everyone wants great customer service. We want to create a visually appealing place to enjoy your coffee,” explained Harris. “What your coffee tastes like and the experience you have is extremely important.”

One of the highlights of this new location is their menu, and how it caters to the space. Harris felt that they needed to be very intentional when selecting the options. The team checked all boxes when curating their menu, from customers schedules, the size of the space, and even how the food smelled in the lobby.

Speaking of food, Upper Left’s original location is well-regarded for its cafe menu, and at the downtown shop there are some new menu items to check out. Definitely get the new bagel sandwich, featuring ponzu cream cheese, avocado, and Asian chili salt. They also offer avocado toast with nut butter; both are solid food options for people to enjoy in-house or on the go. Whether ordering a cortado or picking up a bag of Guatemala Chapina, the coffee portion of the menu strikes a similar tone to the brand’s original location, focusing on roast quality and sourcing. However, one stark contrast between the two locations is the exclusion of pour-over service downtown, in an effort to minimize wait times. Perhaps to help speed things up and with summer just around the corner, Upper Left are kegging their original cold brew as well as a single-origin cacao nib nitro cold brew, and offering an array of tea options courtesy of Steven Smith and Tea Bar.

Behind the coffee bar, they have a La Marzocco Linea Classic two-group, paired with Mahlkönig EK43 and Mazzer Major espresso grinders. Batch brew happens via a trusty Curtis Brewer.

Since their opening on December 20, the shop has been creating a buzz in downtown Portland. Although the holiday months and start of the New Year can often be slow for downtown—which really comes alive during the summer international tourist season—Upper Left has seen a steady stream of traffic, even with only weekday hours. For Harris, this shop opening in this building isn’t simply a plot in a popular area, it’s nostalgic.

“It’s an honor to have a coffee shop in this historic building. I’m excited to be downtown and encounter new types of customers.” And downtown seems pretty pumped to have them, too.

Upper Left Roasters is located at 555 SW Morrison, Portland. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Giovanni Fillari is a social media manager at Nike and the publisher of @coffeefeedpdx. Read more Giovanni Fillari for Sprudge.

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UK’s Department Of Coffee & Social Affairs Acquires Baker & Spice

Mergers and acquisitions are the seasonal latte of the month in the specialty coffee world right now. Taking inspiration from the tech and telecom industries, where this sort of thing is the norm, conglomerates and holding companies are collecting coffee brands like baseball cards. And it’s not only happening in the US—as JAB and Nestlé battle it out for the right to take on Starbucks, in the United Kingdom a growing specialty coffee chain just quietly added another business to its ranks.

Since it began in London way back in 2010, Department of Coffee & Social Affairs has grown to encompass 20 of its own cafes alongside a ream of other businesses across the country, and even expanded to the US in 2017. Per The Independent, their latest acquisition is Baker & Spice, an upscale bakery and deli with five locations in London, purchased from the bankrupt cake chain Patisserie Valerie for £2.5 million.

(From our 2015 feature “London: At The New Department Of Coffee & Social Affairs In Spitalfields Market” by Audrey Fiodorenko)

With Baker & Spice, Department of Coffee is adding to its roster of independent brands around England—in December, it completed the purchase of the London-based tea and cake shop Bea’s of Bloomsbury, and earlier in the year acquired two Bristol coffee shops, The Crazy Fox and Tradewind Espresso. Rather than bring these companies underneath its own brand, Department of Coffee has allowed each to remain individual, at least in name, while it focuses its attention on expanding its own cafes across the country and into the US.

DCSA sandwich board. Photo by Audrey Fiodorenko

The main difference between the spate of glitzy takeovers in the US and Department of Coffee’s smaller-scale expansion is that the latter has happened, for the most part, under the radar. It might point to a future where, instead of coffee companies expanding fast in hopes of being snapped up by a venture capital firm, smaller regional brands combine for long-term stability.

Fionn Pooler is a journalist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the publisher of The Pourover. Read more Fionn Pooler on Sprudge.

Illustration by Zac Cadwalader.

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Touring Gruppo Cimbali’s Factory And Espresso Machine Museum

After three days of hyper-caffeination at the first-ever Milan Coffee Festival, it was a relief to escape the crowds for a quick trip out to the quiet and often foggy rural town of Binasco. I was traveling in the opposite direction of traffic—to take a private tour of Gruppo Cimbali’s historic espresso machine factory and MUMAC Cultural Center.

MUMAC stands for Museo della Macchina per Caffe and is home to a collaborative collection of over 200 professional coffee machines that span more than 100 years of innovation. Attached to the Cimbali factory, it’s the largest espresso machine museum in the world.

This converted spare-parts warehouse wasn’t solely intended for the means of meandering through history. As part of their ongoing push into the specialty coffee market, Cimbali opened MUMAC in 2012 with the idea of building a space to host certified coffee education programs, events, and coffee competitions. With third wave coffee still somewhat nascent in Italy, every espresso machine manufacturer seems eager to open their own academy and museum, and I was eager to see the Cimbali facilities, which are among the first.

The town center of Binasco is about a 20 minute drive southwest of Milan towards Pavia, and is ornamented with all of the classic Italian landmarks you come to expect no matter how tiny the town: a macelleria (butcher shop), a pasticceria (pastry shop), a tabaccheria (tobbaconist) with an espresso bar and of course, a photogenic medieval castle near the square illuminated by overarching Christmas lights sprawling down the main street.

MUMAC. Photo courtesy of Gruppo Cimbali

Gruppo Cimbali SpA relocated its headquarters from within the center of Milan to Binasco in the 60s and has since been the largest employer of its residents. An employee base of around 450 people is distributed between the logistical hub in Binasco and their three production facilities in nearby cities Bergamo and Cremona.

The 200 employees that work in their facilities can produce up to a stunning 200 mechanical appliances a day (not just espresso machines). While we were suiting up with steel toes and hard hats for the factory tour, Cimbali’s Production Manager Paolo Molteni explained that this level of efficiency is attributed to his implementation of the “Lean Manufacturing” system.

Paolo Molteni

Lean Manufacturing is a philosophical and methodological system that comes from the automotive industry that when it works as intended, produces perfect products on time through minimization of actions that don’t add value to the process. This type of development doesn’t just happen overnight, Molteni explains. “The involvement of our original factory operators was fundamental when we started this journey a few years ago.”

The facility was empty, dark, and silent while the operators were on lunch break. As we passed through the assembly rows, I noticed that the lights automatically illuminated only the stations we were standing in, prompting the many questions I had for Molteni about how Cimbali was combating production waste and energy consumption.

Molteni attributes the “Lean” system as a key factor in energy reduction in all of the facilities. The factories are partially powered by solar energy, and with recent renovations like a geothermal floor heating system, conversion to all LED lighting, and new cooling systems, Cimbali has brought overall energy consumption from production down 10% in the past year. 12% of that overall consumption is powered by renewable energy sources, and hazardous materials from production have been reduced to less than 1% of the company’s overall waste.

As the factory started to fill back in with employees, I slipped out of my safety gear and took off towards the undulating facade of the imperial red MUMAC Academy building. We were greeted by technology specialist Filippo Mazzoni near the gift shop and reception before making our way over to the lobby cafe for some mid-morning macchiatos.

In addition to his quirky and talkative manner, Mazzoni’s years of experience as a trainer and technician for Cimbali makes him an engaging tour guide. He popped open antique machines left and right throughout the museum to explain the evolution of coffee tech and made sure to squeeze in plenty of juicy details on historic patent drama between rivaling machine manufacturers (some of which are now owned by the same parent companies).

Early Espresso History Room at MUMAC

The majority of pieces on display are restored and owned by espresso machine collector Enrico Maltoni. Maltoni discussed a shared vision of a museum likes this with Maurizio Cimbali when they met in the early 90s, and the two have worked together towards realizing this dream ever since.

Each of the six chronological galleries in the museum represents a different era of technology, all adorned with Maltoni’s collector coffee cups, magazines, and other signs of the times. Although the museum is without question a Gruppo Cimbali venture, there are machines on display by virtually every company from La Marzocco and Kees van der Westen to Elektra and Vibiemme.

The final exhibit of the museum was a personal highlight, and featured the only machine on exhibit that Mazzoni couldn’t open up for a photo; the exploded view of a La Cimbali M100, seen at the top of this story.

We then made our way to the MUMAC Coffee Machine Academy. The two-story SCA Premier Campus features a barista and technician training center and water lab on the first floor, and a sensory lab on the top floor that regularly hosts CQI certification courses. (Thankfully there were only a few minutes to breeze through the museum library, because I would have been fixated for hours on its collection of over 15,000 patents and coffee reference points dating back to the 16th century.)

In a town of about seven thousand people, only a quick drive from one of the largest metropolitan cities in the world, the MUMAC Academy protects and valorizes the history and culture of coffee machines with a dedicated focus on technology and the future of the industry.

From humble roots in a Milanese copper shop in 1912 to becoming one of the world leaders in the production of high-quality espresso machines, I was impressed by their ability to stand firmly by their integrity, humility, and glocal modus operandi.

“When the challenge to improve is missing, that is the end,” Maurizio Cimbali explained to me. “There is always room for us to improve.”

Alexander Gable (@mrgable) is a freelance journalist based in Milan. Read more Alexander Gable for Sprudge.

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Main Street Arts 2

Main Street Arts 2 by PortLiving is a new 6-storey condo development located at Main & East 4th, Vancouver. This project will offer 49 market condominiums, with the unit mix comprised of 26 studio units,4 one-bedroom units, 13 two-bedroom units, and 6 three-bedroom units. A plaza at the southwest corner of the site provides social space for all those using the building. In addition to the vibrant colour accents on the exterior, a series of murals will animate the laneway.

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989 Victoria

989 Victoria by Cox Developments brings big city living to Victoria with its bold design presenting two soaring 15 and 17-storey glass towers rising from an exciting angular six-storey podium. This project will offer 206,1-, 2-bedroom, and penthouse condominiums, sizes range from 509 to 1,098 sq ft. At 989, the vibrant heart of Victoria-style culture is just steps away. The best of food, unique and varied shopping experiences, film, theatre, dance, and all the ambiance you look for in a place you want to be.

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Now Open: Intelligentsia’s New Cafe On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame

It’s been nearly a decade since Intelligentsia opened a coffee bar in Los Angeles. Since the 2010 opening of the Pasadena location, Intelli has expanded into New York and Boston, they’ve put a training lab in Atlanta, and they have currently building out a new cafe in Austin. But the Chicago-born coffee company is returning to their first home-away-from-home with their now open cafe on Hollywood Blvd.

Opened Thursday, February 21^st, the new Intelligentsia outpost is right on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where thousands of people come each year to step on some of their favorite famous names encased in five-sided polygon. Designed by Standard Architecture, the 38-seat cafe feature 30-foot long coffee bar equipped with a Poursteady pour-over system and custom-painted La Marzocco Linea. The vaulted mosaic ceiling and outdoor wall painting are inspired by the works of Paul De Longpré as an homage to the artist who used to reside where the cafe currently stands.

Along with a rotating selection of sparkling teas on tap—sourced through sister company Kilogram Tea—Intelligentsia has tapped Mr. Holmes Bakehouse to provide their wildly inventive pastries for the Hollywood coffee bar; according to the press release, the new cafe will be” the first outside of [Mr. Holmes] namesake bakeries to offer their brand new savory sandwiches.”

Intelligentsia’s Hollywood cafe is open 6:30am to 7:00pm daily. For more information, visit their official website.

Intelligentsia’s Hollywood coffee bar is located at 6401 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

All media via Intelligentsia

Disclosure: Intelligentsia is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network. 

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Bad Photos, Good Birds

We found this guy first. Not the FOY, but I never tire of seeing them

So...for the past two years we have wasted invested hundreds of hours looking for a Greater White-fronted Goose or a Short-eared Owl. We have driven to the far side of Fort Plain and ventured out into the wilds and sat for hours on a roadside looking for the latter.

I have taken and carefully pored over thousands upon thousands photos of Canada Geese, searching, ever searching for that elusive GWFG. (Or a Cackling Goose, but that is another story.)

To no avail.

Greater White-fronted Goose

Then on Saturday some really nice folks whom I had never met, but who were pursuing  county birds the boss and I had found and posted on eBird, called me up and left a message that they had found the goose down in town.

I returned the call and had an absolutely delightful chat with one of the bird folks....I don't get to talk to other enthusiastic birders pretty much ever. Really fun.

And then we went chasing the goose.

No go. No geese at all. Same deal yesterday morning.

However, yesterday afternoon there were a few geese at the spot where our target was seen. I climbed out and began the tedious process of photographing every single one, just in case. But I already knew that I wasn't seeing it. While I was doing so I heard an odd call right below the high riverbank upon which I was standing. Couldn't see any birds because of a huge snowbank so I dismissed it.

Until I got back in the car and Becky said, "Did you hear that? That was something different. I'm going to play that goose call on my phone." And so she did.

And that was it. Out of the car, up on the snowbank, and there it was...about fifty feet from the car.

Who could ask for more?

Whoooo Me.....? Short-eared Owl

However, there WAS more ..... The boss suggested taking a little ride late in the afternoon. I think he gets restless and wants to get out of the house but it is just too icy to do much outdoors. So we did.

Northern Shrike in the near darkness

Just a handful of miles from home I spotted a little bird in a tree across a field. I still get cold chills thinking about seeing my first ever Short-eared Owl. And because I was taking lots of photos of it I discovered that there was a Northern Shrike sitting about two feet underneath it in the very same tree. I needed one for my county list and there it was.

Terrible shot showing shrike and owl

We went on to find three more owls a couple of miles away, swooping around a big hay field like giant feathery moths.

It was probably one of the best day's birding I have ever had. I am still kinda stunned by it all.

Like giant moths or really big bats

from Northview Diary https://ift.tt/2EfAvVM