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SNIPS & SNAILS AND COFFEE SHOP TALES

It’s 3 a.m. and I am already drinking my second cup of coffee. For the last ten years at least I have dreamt of owning a little coffee shop. Someplace where I could chat with friends, stretch out my $18,000 culinary school education, and drink that 3rd cup of coffee assuring my doctor that it was in the interest of research. Well, I finally did it. After a year of searching, planning and putting it all together I opened THE LINE COFFEE on April Fool’s Day. And my, I think my place is cute.

With only 400 square feet and barely 10 feet wide, every square inch has been accounted for. With 2 different coffee makers, 3 different coffee grinders and a rather large espresso machine, I honestly believe that there is as much engineering, hardware and electronics in my little shop as was in the Apollo space capsules. Coffee making sure is different than the days of grounds in a pot of water that you strain with your teeth.

The drip coffee is a standard, high quality flat filter machine and it makes a fine cup of coffee.  The pour over, the Curtis Gold Cup which makes one golden cup at a time, employs the best of what we know about filtration, dwell time, water temperature and brew timing.  That there is one smooth cup of coffee.  The 3 group Conti espresso machine looks almost like a throwback from Buck Rogers’s era. That 30’s kind of machine where every switch, lever and button was designed with a specific purpose and style. You have got to love Italian design.

So far I have just been sort of kicking the tires and breaking in the engine slowly. I have had great help getting the day to day systems in place and have just hired my second employee.  While it was always my intent to focus on heavily on the coffee, I am pleasantly surprised to learn that my croissants and cinnamon rolls are becoming local favorites. I even worked out a vegan, gluten free brownie recipe. I am hoping that one will catch on too.

When in the neighborhood of Telegraph Ave and Ashby in Berkeley do stop in. Just tell you doctor it’s for research.

With Gratitude,

Tommy Judt

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MONDAY, MONDAY

Can’t touch that day.

I have come to the stark realization that I am odd. (Many who know me just said,”Duh” in their heads.) The oddness I refer to today, Monday, well is . . . I like Mondays! In 1966 the Easy Beats, out of Australia, recorded a hit single, I’ve Got Friday On My Mind. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s the local radio stations would play this every Friday afternoon, right around closing time. Everyone where I worked would boisterously to sing along. Even my boss sometimes.

Later on, after the new millennium ushered in with a whisper, that Friday Friday song was replaced with the Bob Marley cover of the Sublime hit – Smoke Two Joints. Smoke Two Joints would be played precisely at 5 p.m. on either KSAN or KFOG, I can never remember. I do remember going to the pub right after work and singing along with every other glad-to-be-off-work-for-the-week pub crawler.

My father told me that the eagle flies on Friday. A few of my disgruntled coworkers would say the eagle takes a shit on Friday. I will assure you now that the attitude difference between my father and my coworkers is the exact reason why my father exalted Fridays and the others did not. I too have always welcomed, and will continue to welcome, Fridays; not only for the soar of the eagle, the foam on my suds, and the occasional chorus of Puff the Magic Dragon; but for the comradery of my friends and loved ones.  The deep relaxation of not having to perform at work, to be able to wear clean clothes (the workman’s woe), and then either race off, or sit back, to relax.

Yes Fridays are good, but to me . . . Mondays are better. Some of you have noticed that I like to enjoy a cup of coffee, wine, or whiskey with a book and a meal.  Some of those have noticed that my choice of reading material is a far stretch from bodice rippers and just shy of the Federalist Papers. (Some of which I have read.) It seems to me that my wiring may a bit different, some (I) might call it odd.  The thing that I like about the books I read is how they challenge the very basic premises of life. These authors with their books, if I allow them, throw bare my implicit biases. I mean totally rip off the fuzzy warm comforters which have protected my misjudgments lo these many decades. I will stop the boring here and just say, that I may have chosen the long route but have saved myself tens of thousands in therapy costs.  Conclusion: Better to smoke two joints on a Friday and just chill out. On Mondays? A pot of coffee and a shave, a crisp fresh shirt, and a world full of opportunity.

No real point to today’s story. I just wanted to say hello and good Monday to you.  The world awaits us. What shall we bring her today?

Until next time,

Tommy Judt

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FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST-MAS

It is said that Casanova was the world’s greatest lover. That he knew the secret to seducing women. That he had mastered the Language of Love. I will share with you that as I plod my way through life I wish that I knew half of what he knew. Or then again, maybe not. Dear Mr. C. was well known for his conquests but not so much for staying power.  His language of love was effective if not fleeting. READ MORE

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ARE WE THERE YET?

Throughout my life we, as a family, would drive up from the East Bay to Vallejo to visit my grandparents. Occasionally it was just for a visit, mostly it was for a holiday bbq or dinner.  The seven of us, mom, dad and 5 whining siblings, would load into the old brown Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon. The reason it was called a Vista Cruiser is that there were two windows, in the roof,  above the back passenger seat. I guess one could look at the stars if one were laying on one’s back, in the back seat. Any way. Continue reading “ARE WE THERE YET?”

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SOME DAYS

Every day I awaken to the same routine. Boil water, grind the coffee, feed the dogs, (got to make them sit and wait – Dinner time discipline I call it,) pour myself a large cuppa, add two sugars, sit down to my computer, log in and brace myself. Firstly I check emails, pay my bills and respond to my clients. Secondly I’ll pop over to Facebook to see how many people love me Continue reading “SOME DAYS”

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THE BIG NIGHT

There are two best days in any restaurant owner’s life. The day they open and the day they close. I have experienced both. It had always been a dream of mine, since I was a very young man, to own a restaurant. Even my mother and father supported the idea and offered to work for me. Either, or the both, of them would have made excellent hosts. My restaurant was in Emeryville, in the shopping center where Trader Joe’s is located. I took over an old Hobbee’s and made it into a sweet little place. Actually Continue reading “THE BIG NIGHT”

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FRIEND AND PHO

Life is about experiences. Ones we enjoy in the present, then again in the remembering, and yet again in the sharing and the retelling. Years ago I volunteered for an organization called Rebuilding Together (RT), formerly known as Christmas in April. Every now and then we called it Christmas in June, or July or sometimes August. You see RT is an organization that, once a year, helps the elderly and those in need repair their homes so that they are safe and clean. Many times I have gone in to replace entire kitchens and bathrooms. Other times we would just Continue reading “FRIEND AND PHO”

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A COLD ONE

“How much is there?”

“A mountain of it, maybe 50, 60 cases.”

Many, many years ago I did the Renaissance Faire. We say we did the faire, not went to the faire, or worked at the faire. No, we DID the faire. We packed our cars for camping, put on crazy, sometimes super expensive costumes, and went dancing around in a forest. Think of it as your parent’s Burning Man, but just Continue reading “A COLD ONE”

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SUGAR TOOTH

While my father lamented the reprisal of tuna casserole on my birthday, he was in agreement with me on one thing: Chocolate cake for dessert. On occasion, my mother would try to make something from scratch. Chocolate cake was not this thing. A box mix where she added eggs and milk. Oh! She did have a secret ingredient. She would reduce Continue reading “SUGAR TOOTH”