A coffee tale

On Saturday, I decided to visit the Big Bear Cafe a new, and new to me, coffee shop.

I hopped on my bike around 9:40am and I was there in about ten minutes. It's about a mile and a half from my place in the opposite direction of my favorite coffee place. (For those of you keeping track, this means I biked about 12 miles on Saturday: to and from the coffee shop, 3 miles; 8 miles to Pele's, which should have been less, but I took a few wrong turns; and 1 mile home from the Eastern Market metro. I haven't included the distance from Pele's to the Clarendon Metro, which is half a mile or less. And, yes, I'm a very slow cyclist--but I stop at stop signs (usually) and signals (always).) It seems that I prefer coffee shops about a mile from home rather than half a block away--but it's mostly the better coffee that draws me.

The place was great--a good set up, enough space so that it won't be overcrowded (I hope) a counter that you can sit at comfortably, a few tables, a sofa and some easy chairs.

Dad called on Sunday night and I told him this story about my coffee shop experience.

"After I ordered my cappuccino, the guy behind me, he got to the counter and he said, 'I'd like a cappuccino…in a bowl."

Dad said, "In a bowl?"

"Yeah, I dunno. You know how sometimes they serve coffee in a bowl in Europe? In France?"

"Um, I guess…wait, isn't that a café au lait?"

"Oh, yeah, you're right. Well, anyway, this guy wanted a cappuccino in a bowl. And the lady behind the counter was like, 'That big cup is for lattes. We make the cappuccinos in the smaller mugs.' They didn't have sizes for the coffee. It was just 'cappuccino,' 'latte,' and I don't remember what else, but just one price for each drink and no sizes!

"But the guy was like, 'I want it in a bowl, I want a big cappuccino.'

"The lady said, 'It won't really work in that size…there won't be enough.'"

That got a big laugh from Dad.

"And I'm thinking, 'It'll work if you put more in there!'"

Another laugh. Dad said, "I guess he knew what he wanted!"

"Finally, the lady said, 'We can make two cappuccinos and put them in one cup.' And that's what they did--and they charged him for two!"

"Good for her! And everyone was happy."

"Yeah, he didn't seem to mind paying $5 for his cappuccino. My regular sized cap was really good, so I'll definitely go back."

The coffee was great but the story might have been better.

Grateful for: Dad.