Espresso and Haute Cuisine

[Culatello]

The resturant is Le Latini in Montreal

[krisdata]

The last thing you put in your mouth in a great resto is the cafe

Now you just finished having an outstanding dinner every thing top notch but the espresso was bitter and awful.

I find the coffe should be just as important as the Wine and Dinner

Call me the uneducated consumer. Not having the pleasure of having travelled to Italy, and living much of my adult life in an isolated, rural area, I am definitely one of those people who was not aware of what good espresso could be.

However, I've moved from the sticks to the big city (Chicago), and had a wonderful experience with an after-dinner coffee at Blackbird. My husband and I had a wonderful meal, fantastic dessert, but were truly wowed by the coffee. We drank cup after cup.

In any case, as we were so impressed by the quality of the coffee (and this was not the first time we plunked down some serious cash for city dining experiences), I've come to believe that good coffee is the exception, and not the rule. That being said, I'd love tips as to where to find more exceptions.

[laurenmilan]

I'm guessing the disrespect to espresso preparation is linked to the disrespect given towards desserts? As a little meaningless extra?

[laurenmilan]

I'm amazed that pods have NOT become more popular in restaurants, just for the convenience/mess factor alone.

Edited December 10, 2003 by laurenmilan (log)

[phaelon56]

I'm guessing the disrespect to espresso preparation is linked to the disrespect given towards desserts? As a little meaningless extra?

That may be the case in many restaurants, where "gourmet" desserts oftenm come frozen from a specialty dessert wholesaler and are often just an over sweet and rich confection that looks pretty but lacks true character and subtlety. I lack the fine dining experience of the average egulleteer but I have had dinner in many places that offer some outstanding desserts made on premises. In most cases the coffee offered in these places has been below average and the espresso abominable.

I've always been of the opinion that the little "extras", if they are of exceptional or even above average quality, are one of the things that make dining out special, appeal to many people if done properly and most significant, are potentially a very significant source of high margin extra revenue for restarauteurs.

Krisdata - not sure what restaurants in Chicago offer really good coffee and/or espresso but you might try having an espresso at Intelligentisa Roasters and ask if there are any local restaurants they can suggest that use their product and do a good job of preparing it. Intelligentsia has some phenomenally good espresso blends that are popular enough to be ordered by Internet and shipped to espresso fiends throughout the US and Canada.