Plenty of us need it as a pick-me-up in the morning, but would you have had Britain’s finest track cyclists down as coffee addicts?

It turns out the GB team are every bit as keen on the bean [...]]]> How many of my readers were aware that cyclists like coffee? This is certainly news to me!

Plenty of us need it as a pick-me-up in the morning, but would you have had Britain’s finest track cyclists down as coffee addicts?

It turns out the GB team are every bit as keen on the bean as desk-dwellers hugging their mugs at work.

And with two of Britain’s top team pursuiters – Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas – away on road-racing duty, one of the squad’s leading baristas has the chance to blend with the world’s best at next week’s Track World Championships in the Netherlands.

via BBC – Ollie Williams: British cyclists – powered by coffee.

Yeah, okay, so I lied … of course cyclists like coffee. There are innumerable brands of cycling related coffee beans and accessories. From well-known sponsors (like Jittery Joe’s) and Saeco to mugs and vacuum bottles (commonly known as Thermoses) designed to fit in a bicycle’s bottle cage, I think one could quite easily say that coffee is the cyclist’s best friend.

There’s nothing like a that perfect crema to get the day going.

Not a big ride, but a big ASS ride, because of how big I expect my ass to grow after this morning’s brunch with a number of various tweeps at Diva’s Cupcakes on 33rd South. Good food served buffet style with excellent pastries and [...]]]>
View Ascent activity on 16-May-10 at 02:23PM in a larger map

Not a big ride, but a big ASS ride, because of how big I expect my ass to grow after this morning’s brunch with a number of various tweeps at Diva’s Cupcakes on 33rd South. Good food served buffet style with excellent pastries and cupcakes in addition to the standards eggs, bacon, etc. Decent wine, but everything was bit expensive; $16.99 (plus $1.12 tax) for brunch; while I ate a fair amount of food, it didn’t really seem like an $18.00 meal. The company definitely made the outing worthwhile, however.

Now to deal with a post-bacon coma, then chores about the house and laundry; and perhaps a road ride this evening.

I first heard about High West in late 2008 when I saw a bottle of their Rendezvous Rye whiskey at the State Liquor Store … a couple [...]]]> If you live in Utah, and have yet to visit High West Distillery and Saloon in Park City, then hie your ass there ASAP for food and drink.

I first heard about High West in late 2008 when I saw a bottle of their Rendezvous Rye whiskey at the State Liquor Store … a couple weeks after that, at a friend’s martini party, cocktails were being made with their Vodka 7000′; and in my opinion the vodka is even better than better known (and more expensive) brands like Grey Goose, Chopin, and Belvedere.

High West Rendezvous Rye

The food ain’t half-bad either as I discovered this evening when I went up for appies and cocktails for a friend’s birthday celebration at the newly restored distillery and saloon, which were converted from a 100 year-old livery stable and the Victorian house next door.

The five-cheese fondue (a variety of Swiss cheeses) is delightfully creamy, pungent, fatty and filling … exactly what you would expect from a fondue. The small plates were incredible, from the selection of cured meats—bunderfleisch, Speck (Tyrolean ham, very similar to prosciutto), and a melt-in-your-mouth delicious duck prosciutto—to the crostini with roast tomatoes, arugula and a whiskey cheddar or smoked trout.

Of course, a trip to a distillery would not be complete without a sampling of the house spirits, which for me this evening started with the High West BouRye (a blend of 10 year-old straight bourbon and 12 year-old straight rye whiskies), followed by their more well-known Rendezvous Rye, which I’ve enjoyed sipping on occasion since discovering that first bottle in 2008; both served neat, of course.

The rest of the evening was spent sipping Park City’s finest tap water and chatting with friends about the requirements for getting a green card, new discoveries in the treatment of Hepatitis C, trout fishing, and of course (being Park City, after all) skiing, skiing, and … oh yeah … skiing.

I will definitely be returning for a full dinner at the earliest opportunity.

According to the staff, the distillery is open for tours most afternoons (call first to verify), and of course is open daily for lunch, après-ski, and dinner.

Highly recommended.

A sign at Naidre’s, a small neighborhood coffee shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., begins warmly: “Dear customers, we are absolutely thrilled that you like us so much that you want to spend the day…”

But, it continues, “…people gotta eat, and to eat [...]]]>

No More Perks: Coffee Shops Pull the Plug on Laptop Users – WSJ.com

A sign at Naidre’s, a small neighborhood coffee shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., begins warmly: “Dear customers, we are absolutely thrilled that you like us so much that you want to spend the day…”

But, it continues, “…people gotta eat, and to eat they gotta sit.” At Naidre’s in Park Slope and its second location in nearby Carroll Gardens, Wi-Fi is free. But since the spring of 2008, no laptops have been allowed between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekends, unless the customer is eating and typing at the same time.

Amid the economic downturn, there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables — nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours — and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it.

Read more …

I’ve often wondered about this trend and how many cafes manage to stay in business when it appears that most of their customer base is people sitting alone, on their laptop, nursing a cup of regular coffee (not even a cappumacchilatteccino!)

Well … now I know. They are finding it difficult and are trying to find different ways to discourage laptop loitering, from encouraged table sharing, to outright bans.

I think it’s fine for laptops users to hang out in a coffee shop … just make them stand or sit on the floor, and reserve seats for paying customers … or rent the chair by the hour, reduced by the amount of food and/or drink that is being purchased.

There are lots of places that offer free wi-fi … many of which are actually designed for loitering, like the public library, for example. The Salt Lake City Main is a perfect example of this … not only is there free wi-fi in the library, but there are a number of cafes in and around Library Square where you can get your caffeine fix; and surprisingly, food and drink are both allowed IN the library itself.

Sure, there are a few stinky people in the library as well, but it’s quiet, and best of all, it allows you to actually make use of your tax dollars rather than having a negative impact on a local small business owner (obviously, I’m not talking about Starbucks, but the smaller, local independent shops and chains).

If you are going to go to a cafe, at least be considerate, and make sure the business owner knows that you appreciate the amenities that they offer by spending some real money, not just a $2.00 cup of coffee, especially if you’re going to be there for any length of time. Don’t be a freeloader.

I’ve never understood people who take their own food/beverage into an establishment that’s in the business of selling same. The one exception is taking a special bottle of wine that a restaurant doesn’t serve, but even in that case, the restaurant will charge a corkage fee … so it’s more about drinking what you like, instead of taking money out of their pockets.

When I lived in San Francisco, I frequented a bar called the Hi-Ball Lounge. On Monday nights, there was DJ’ed swing dancing … and many of the dancers would show up carting gym bags filled not only with changes of clothes, but with energy bars and water bottles; essentially turning the bar into a gym. Since the really small cover charge on Monday nights went entirely to pay the DJ, if patrons didn’t spend any money at the bar, then the bar didn’t make any money that night.

Luckily, there were a few of us who did what we could to keep the Hi-Ball in business, but eventually it, like all good things, came to an end … all due to the freeloaders.

So the next time you go somewhere because they offer a free amenity, think about why they’re offering it … it’s not for people to come and take advantage, but to encourage people to come and spend. If you want to keep the economy moving, it’s the only way.

Saturday – Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah, then Oasis Cafe … then a homecooked meal of chicken, sautéed in olive oil and garam masala spice, with feta, hazelnut and butternut squash ravioli, accompanied by spring greens salad with a homemade [...]]]> Friday – Airport, then Citris Grill for yummy miso beef salad.

Saturday – Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah, then Oasis Cafe … then a homecooked meal of chicken, sautéed in olive oil and garam masala spice, with feta, hazelnut and butternut squash ravioli, accompanied by spring greens salad with a homemade vinaigrette.

Sunday – Red Butte Gardens, then and egg, prosciutto and fontina cheese brunch at Caffe Niche, followed by more Red Butte Gardens, then brats and beer and tequila and good company at the A-Train’s.

Monday – Worked in the morning until 12:30, then lunch at Lone Star Tacqueria, home for mid-afternoon digestion, then a tour of the Temple Grounds and the LDS Conference Center (fascinating, even for us heathens). Then a little couch time with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.

Tuesday – Slept in, then a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon for an attempted hike to Cecret Lake, walked a couple miles from the resort to the campgrounds, but couldn’t find the trail to the lake itself under the snow, a mountainside luncheon of prosciutto and provolone on crusty La Brea whole grain bread … then Porcupine Pub & Grill for a couple of beers and ahi tuna spring rolls, then home for a nap. Planning honey and ginger soy chicken (not sure if grilled or sautéed), with wild rice and spring greens for dinner.

All and all … a good week thus far.

(1) Purpose. This rule establishes guidelines for accepting liquor returns, refunds and exchanges.

(2) Application of Rule.

(a) Unsaleable Product. Unsaleable product includes product that is spoiled, leaking, contains foreign matter, or is otherwise defective. [...]]]> Never again will I pour out a bottle of bad wine!

R81-2-2. Liquor Returns, Refunds and Exchanges.

(1) Purpose. This rule establishes guidelines for accepting liquor returns, refunds and exchanges.

(2) Application of Rule.

(a) Unsaleable Product. Unsaleable product includes product that is spoiled, leaking, contains foreign matter, or is otherwise defective. The department will accept for refund or exchange liquor merchandise that is unsaleable subject to the following conditions and restrictions:

(i) Returns of unsaleable merchandise are subject to approval by the store manager to verify that the product is indeed defective.

(ii) The product must be returned within a reasonable time of the date of purchase. Discontinued products may not be returned. Vintages of wine that are not currently being retailed by the department may not be returned.

(iii) All returned product must have the state stamp attached to each bottle.

(iv) No refunds shall be given for wines returned due to spoilage such as corkiness, oxidation, and secondary fermentation, or due to the customer’s unfamiliarity with the characteristics of the product. Such wines may only be exchanged for another bottle of the same product. Wine will not be accepted for refund or exchange if the return is a result of improper extraction of the cork.

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: November 1, 2005
Notice of Continuation: September 6, 2006
Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: 32A-1-107; 32A-1-301 to 32A-1-305

The Perfect Espresso Shot

From Nancy’s 4th of July BBQ on, well … the 4th, to The Reverend‘s “America, Fuck Yeah” BBQ on Saturday night. Brats, burgers, chicken and beef skewers. Jennie’s lemon tart cookie things. Beer. Vodka. Couch-time watching the Tour.

Not [...]]]> I definitely overindulged in pretty much everything except riding this weekend; especially meat and heat.

From Nancy’s 4th of July BBQ on, well … the 4th, to The Reverend‘s “America, Fuck Yeah” BBQ on Saturday night. Brats, burgers, chicken and beef skewers. Jennie’s lemon tart cookie things. Beer. Vodka. Couch-time watching the Tour.

Not the absinthe, though … that was some serious nastiness, so after a few sips, I ditched my glass, and returned to my nice, refreshing Grey Goose and tonic.

Going back to work tomorrow morning is going to feel like a vacation. It will definitely be a de-tox day.