[dd74]

Okay, my turn:

Half my blood is coffee. Most "barristas" at Starbucks are shocked by my order - quad-shot grande nonfat cappucino.

Granted, Starbucks blow. Coffee, Bean and Tea Leaf es muy mejor IMO.

Three coffee-related stories, if I may...

Last Thursday, I arrived back from a week in Maui. There, I procurred what is by far the nector of the coffee gods: Kona Coffee. Jeez, I was in the coffee section of an Albertson's there, and was like a kid in a candy store. I was grabbing bags and bags and bags of Kona coffee, and squeezing them to get that decadent aroma. Then I just went ahead and dropped the bucks.

You can't beat Kona Coffee as far as regular brewed stuff. Nor, for that matter, can you beat Kona Coffee ice cream.

Here's another story: I had this friend who in 1988, was on a flight to Washington State. Some guy next to him tries to sell him on investing in coffee drinks sold "fast food style." My friend says fast-food style coffee will never fly. Yeah, well he could be a multi-millionaire now if he only ponied up $10K + or -. That company was and is Starbucks.

Third story, well, really not a story, but an observation:

In L.A., the best restaurant coffee is not where you'd think. Screw Spago, El Cielo and Chaya. Go downtown where two very old L.A. establishments have it: "Phillipe's," which also have the best French Dip sandwiches in the west, and "The Pantry" 24-hr. steak house (big with USC English Dept. drunks). The Pantry, by the way, is owned by ex-L.A. mayor Richard Riordan, along with about $100,000,000 in other prime pieces of Angelino real estate.