Elysian Room: doesn't necessarily mean exceedingly delightful

The Elysian Room can be found right around the corner from the 5th Avenue Cinemas right on 5th avenue off of Burrard. Many movie goers frequent the little cafe before or after their movies. Whenever I have gone there off show time hours, I have noticed that this little cafe attracts a more mature and quieter crowd that is there more for a little afternoon tea than anything else. Even the decor kind of screams out to a certain crowd: large cloths draped from the ceiling that look like they were bought from a street vendor in a foreign country; a colour palette that seems like it was made to match terra cotta; lighting that might have once been very cool around 1995; and furniture that kind of forces you to sit properly and not linger too long. I am not slamming this place by any means. It serves some tasty coffees (fair trade and organic), it has a nice variety of loose teas (although inconsistent in leaf shred and includes some small twigs and branches), and even serves clover coffee and a couple of other coffee preparation alternatives. The baked goods are tasty even though the prices seem to be set to a bit more of an upscale market.

This is not a place that I would frequent often, but I would go there if I was waiting for someone to see a movie. I don't know if this place would be very kid friendly. It's kind of like going to that aunt's house who is more mature and who likes to have everything the way she likes it, and there is certainly a particular way of doing things when visiting her place - if you know what I mean.

Out of 5 Movie Review Stars

Scene: 2 I would rate this higher if I had guests coming into town and didn't want to scare them with to many hip folk. There really seems like there is a " no lingering" feel to the place.

Grub: 3 It is the taste of the goods that saves it here. I just don't know if the taste matches the value. It really is more of a cafe. Light pre-portioned meals available.

Coffee: 4 It is good coffee, and the fact that you can get your coffee prepared in more ways other than an espresso machine is also something to look forward to if you want to experiment. I am still a little bit leery of having them add too much water to my americano, but as long as you say so, it is good to go.

Kicking Horse Coffee Beans

I am still learning about the different coffee beans from around the world, and how they are roasted. I once saw an article (in MacLeans, I think ) on how coffee fiends were buying unroasted beans and trying their hand at roasting beans by altering an old school air blowing popcorn makers (the kind you could probably find in your parents basement stored away in a dark corner) and plugging it into a fifty foot extension chord. It told you to listen for the first and second cracks, how to adjust the heat and how you could change the flavour by adding different ingredients to the roast. It sounded so easy, but I have yet to try it. Until that point, I am stuck buying whole beans like everyone else.

My favourite bean without a doubt is from 49th parallel. It is the bean to beat so to speak in Vancouver. It has a beautiful full bodied flavour with a smooth finish. The crema is thick and lovely shade of honey brown. In short it is a beautiful thing. It is sold in many locations around Vancouver but at about $15 a pound, I can't help but look around for a more economical option. There is no way that I would go so low as a supermarket name brand at about $7 a pound. I have tried several supermarket brands and I have thought that the flavour was flat, bitter or burnt. The beans were old and stale and probably pretty unevenly roasted.

I have tried other beans that could be considered the micro-roasters of coffee beans. The brand I most commonly buy is Kicking Horse Coffee.It is an independent company roasting since 1996 from Invermere BC and uses Fair Trade Organic coffee beans. My favourite roast is the Espresso roast (followed closely by the Kick Ass - and that not just for it's name either). The flavour is a little bit tangier and sharper and has a deep roasted flavour in the finish. It is still about $14 in stores, but can often be bought for $10 when on sale.

If you get a chance buy a bag, grind it up and pull it through your machine.

Kicking Horse Espresso Roast whole bean coffee - 4 shots out of 5 not just for the flavour but also for the value when you get it on sale.

Crema from a Stove Top?

That's like asking can I get real Turkey stuffing from Stove Top without actually using a turkey. You can simulate the taste and you'll be satisfied, but I don't think it's actually going to happen. Crema appears after the oils and complex flavours from the espresso grind are extracted during the process of making a shot of espresso. It is a lovely golden brown foam that sits on the top of the shot. Some roasters brag that their crema can last for up to 17 minutes!

A friend of mine recently asked me if she could get crema through her stove top. I don't think so. There are some things that can maybe get that tiny hint of crema, but the effort doesn't seem like it is worth it when I look back at all of the suggestions:

1. As someone put it, scare the bean. Start with everything super hot (except the bean. Keep that at room temperature). Have the stove top expresso apparatus hot, the element hot, and use piping hot water.

2. Practically use turkish grounds. The tightly packed grounds will help more air pressure as the water vapour works its way through the grounds.

3. Using a expresso stove top that has no collecting reservoir, but a spout where you can watch the expresso come out. This is more for pulling the shot away from the nozzle when you see that the espresso coming out has lightened in colour to a beige or white. When you see this come out, it means that you are extracting the from the dregs of the grind, and when added to your shot makes the shot more bitter or tasteless. Bleckh!

4. If you can, buy a stove top expresso maker that has a control valve for when the water pressure is ready. I am not even sure if this is on the market. If it isn't someone needs to get on that.

I think she needed to throw out her stove top. Who are we kidding? When you want the crema at home, you are ready for a real espresso machine.

New Spring for Saltspring?

I don't know if I actually like Saltspring anymore than I did from when I first started the blog, but what I did notice is that it really is more suitable for parents who bring their small children for a cuppa coffee. The inside is still tough to maneuver a stroller in there, but there almost always seems to be room to sit down. So where would the little kiddies go? Because Saltspring is located on a corner, with a large east facing window with tables and chairs outside, parents sip lattes while their strollers are parked on the sidewalk the same way testosterone drenched young men park their crotch rockets outside their favourite watering hole. Aside from the crazy - and perhaps unintentional - expression of stroller status, the cafe does lend itself to be a decent meeting place for parents with infants. For this reason Saltspring Island Coffee Company Cafe has moved a little bit up the ladder for me.

Having said all of this, the coffee remains to be acceptable and the service indifferent. The baked goods, although limited (despite all of the different labels displayed) are good. They also have clover coffee available. Unfortunately, it appears as though they pre-portion the beans, leaving the bean dry and stale and the clover bland and tasteless.

That was a heck of a coffee break

It has been a LOOOOONG times since I posted anything. I think my need for everything to be witty was killing me. I felt like I couldn't keep it up anymore. I just need to go back to writing about the coffee shops that I like to hang out at and perhaps re-visit some old ones. In the past year, my view on coffee shops has changed slightly. I am looking at coffee shops in a new light. Since my baby came along, I feel like I have had some cafe's look at me differently as soon as they see me with a stroller or wearing a baby carrier. I feel a bit like Ruth Reichl (a previous New York Times food critic - Read Garlic and Sapphires, you will never regret it if you love foodie books are are interested in human behaviour) coming into different restaurants and having the same people react to you differently because of who you came with or who you are.

In short I am going to make a better effort in making more comments on some new places, a few comments on different beans, even make comment on some of the different ways some places prepare coffee. In short this will still be a coffee blog, but it will be served with more of the options.

Don't go Brekka-in' my Heart

Brekka Bakery on Fraser is the other coffee shop in my scope of view that has been under consideration. Breka Bakery looks like a place that is so close to having it right for a cafe. They are close but for some reason it still has not hit home for me. They do serve espresso - I mean really, what self respecting European bakery claiming to be a cafe wouldn't? - but again they are using Lavazza style beans which is very European, but I still find to have too much of a burnt smokey flavour for my preferences. The baked goods are wide in selection, but truly when I have one, I always expect it to be better. I see these creamy desserts that could balance the smokey coffee taste and then I pop the baked good in my mouth and...It's baked but really not that good. I must give it credit for the breads that they create. They do produce some tasty breads that look good and come in a variety of densities and flavours which they will thin or thick slice for you on the spot. Perhaps they should just stick to Brekk-in' bread with friends.

Out of 5 slices of European style baked bread

Scene: 3 When you look around the options you have on Fraser - Starschmucks not withstanding -it is slim pickin's. This place actually has some decent seats and there is a variety of people who go there from families, hipsters, locals and students. Perhaps it is developing a bit of a following after it renovated a couple of years ago. Who knows? Maybe they will evolve into the neighbourhood establishment where people will actually head to as a destination. Ahh, who am I kidding?

Grub: 3 Mostly because of the bread. The place does serve the odd counter dish like Mac and Cheese for kids but it really is a bakery, everything from cakes, tarts, buns and breads. All of them baked. You judge which ones are good.

Coffee: 3 It's okay. I would almost say 2 but I know there are those people who love the flavour of Lavazza and the coffee is not necessarily utilitarian. If you are looking for a place to sit, have a coffee or read the paper, see the odd neighbour and maybe have a brownie, this could be your place.

Euro Breads, Bakery and Cafe

This is one of two cafés on Fraser that one can go to for an espresso that I know of. It is around Fraser and 27th Avenue and could be easily missed if you were not looking for it. The cafe is a decent size but appears small because there really is not too much to it. It has a few chairs and tables inside and out, but for the most part the cafe saves its room for the stand up glass door fridges and display cases. The people in there are friendly but are not really interested in having you stay, nor go. They are there to bake the goods and maybe serve some coffee. I would say out of the three things that they claim to be, they are definitely a bread place. They have an entire corner dedicated to breads they make which area combination of wheats, seeds, gluten and gluten free breads. They also have a Georgian flat bread that is worth noting. I have to say that one of the things I do like having when I go there is their Borscht. It is hot with a dollop of yogurt, and served with a piece of flat bread. Yum! The rest of the baked goods are okay by my standards (actual baked goods not including cakes) but I couldn't say that there was anything other than the breads that stand out in my mind. Kind of the same way the store front blends in with the rest of the neighbourhood.

Out of 5 European Slices of flax seed gluten fee bread
Scene: 2 pleasant enough and not disruptive. The people are very unobtrusive mostly because they don't really care if you are there or not. The people who go are usually locals or the odd person who happened to be on Fraser and found themselves needing a coffee. It's actually not a bad place to go and quietly escape to read a book or do a crossword.

Grub: 3 There are good select items, but for the most part the baked goods are inoffensive, and you know that they make it one the premises. I only sometimes wonder about the freshness and turnover, since the place doesn't always seem very busy.

Coffee: 3 I'm not crazy about the grounds. I think they use the Lavazza or something similar. The beans always taste a little bit over roasted and a bit burnt, but they serve it the way you ask for it. It isn't the fastest service in town either, so don't think you are going to be able to et out of there in under 10 minutes if you think you are just passing through - and that's if you are the ONLY one in the store.