Thursday, December 13, 2007
News Hill of Beans
Posted by Carrington Fox on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 10:54 AM
If you think you smell an espresso-scented tipping point somewhere South of Broadway near the river, that's Crema, the coffee shop brewing in the burgeoning neighborhood of Rutledge Hill. Named for the foamy, golden brown extraction that develops in the filter and encrusts the top of an espresso serving, Crema (rhymes with “Emma”) is the latest food-forward (or beverage-forward, to be specific) establishment to hang up its shingle in the once-forgotten district of Rutledge Hill.
Owner Rachel Lehman, who spent the last four years managing Sam & Zoe's coffee shop in Berry Hill, isn't the first person to think Rutledge Hill can become an enclave for people who care about what they eat and drink. Andrew Chadwick, a former executive chef for Ritz-Carlton, recently debuted his showplace of a restaurant in a nearby historic residence. (Be warned, Andrew Chadwick's on Rutledge Hill, located at 37 Rutledge St., is so entre-nous, it doesn't even have a shingle.)
Lehman, a Chicagoland native who has spent a decade in the coffee industry, hopes the same kind of discerning people who seek out Andrew Chadwick's (i.e. people who “are anal about their coffee”) will discover Crema and its menu of traditional European coffee drinks made with locally roasted Drew Brews. Don't expect a phalanx of flavored liqueurs and giant over-sized coffee shakes. Lehman's focus is “latte art” and espressos served in traditional (read “small”) European sizes.
Crema will stock a selection of locally made pastries, sandwiches, quiches and to-go items. Located at 15 Hermitage Ave., 255-8311, Crema will be open 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
Since this is well within ramblin' distance of my office, I am stoked about it.
However, since I am One Of Those Guys who gives dirrty looks when I am offered a "double espresso", I hope to see tiny ceramic cups with tiny spoons on the side, and perhaps a tiny sweet-thing on the side.
like
dislike
FABBO !!!
rhymes with BABBO ...
Z - keep em short and double em up. that's what i say... the further south you go in italy - the shorter they get...
Southern Italy = poor = small coffee.
Northern Italy = rich = large coffee.
A related subject.
Coffee people have coffee shops to hang in.
Booze people have bars.
Wine snobs have Rumours.
Teenagers have the Mall.
Jesus freaks have church.
What about those of us who don't embibe, like to shop or love Jesus? We can only go to the library & movie theatre so many times. Methinks there is a business opportunity here.
ElZorro - Methinks (to borrow a fabbo word from TobintheGnome) they're called demitasse spoons. Of course we'll have them.
Keep informed of our construction and opening at www.crema-coffee.com
C:
That's what I do, two 1.25 oz. pre-heated cups, lil' bit of turbinado, a kiss of steamed milk
T:
I've only been to firenze/milan/sicily, but I haven't seen a large cup of espresso, unless it was a cappuccino. And those are for breakfast only. And how about hanging out at the park, museum, art gallery? Nothing to buy, but surrounded by beauty
R:
I'll be there on opening day.
Buying Claudia an espresso, of course.
C:
I was afraid of that...
Now I'm gonna have to drink it straight, or my Latino Alpha Male Card will be revoked
Bringing it down a notch: I just conducted an informal taste-test of coffees mixed with Purity Eggnog and Purity Boiled Custard. Now, before you purists get all indignant about how this full-fat dilution insults the beans--and the burros that lugged them down from the hills--and all that, let me just say that I DO THIS FOR YOU. Anyway, if you were curious about which is better as a java mixer--nog or BC--the consensus of Scene employees who tasted the variations, and who will undoubtedly report in sick on Monday with the same virus/cold/flu contracted from the communal tasting mugs, is that they are virtually indistinguishable.
(We did not use demitasse spoons.)
Carrington:
Juan Valdez is TURNING in his grave (he was iced by F.A.R.C. back in '89)
And don't feel bad, my beloved, who's 100% Italian, likes "Buon Natale cappuccinos", which are eggnogg-based.
On a side-note, the person who invented eggnog wanted to get drunk and have a milkshake. At the same time
JV's a Costa Rican actor (the spots were filmed in Costa Rica)
However... FARC is very real.
was jv related to alexajente (sp?)
could jv get people to dance on the tables?
i say not...
carrington - if you're gonna mess with coffee, egg nog would be my fatted out dairy product choice - hands down.
god - i love that stuff...
for those that care, it's el exijente from the late 60's and early 70's - Savarin coffee. tv of my youth...
Is "El Exigente" related to "The Continental"?
Claudia, you must have prodigious memory, recalling a TV commercial when you were a toddler...
well i was 7 in '68 and they ran for years - but Z, you are too kind. no one i ask ever remembers those ads. el exijente would sit there with a coffee cup in his hand and all the coffee growers would take a deep breath as el exijente took a sip of coffee and then he'd nod or wink - and the crowd would go wild... classic shit, i tell ya...
el exijente was probably way cooler than 'the continental'... but you never really got to know the guy, you know what i'm sayin?
by the way i just love to argue/discuss all things coffee... burr/whirlybird grinders, french press vs. drip - the wonders of the nespresso espresso maker... coffee storage. the problem in this country with over roasting of beans... ENDLESS!
C: same here.
Before I moved to the states, way before The Mermaid* showed up, and Italian friend of mine gave me this advise:
"Norteamericanos are good at lots of stuff, like making airplanes, but cannot do two things:
Cook Pasta or make coffee."
*Mermaid: Starbucks' logo
