Coffee: One of the simpler pleasures of my life. The rich brown of the beans and the gloss of the oil. The smell that fills even the biggest space and then lingers. The sound of a gurgling, sputtering pot being brewed. The comfort of having a daily ritual.
We found a flyer in the mail late last week: Cuppedia. The first coffee shop in the neighbourhood. My initial giddiness was dampened somewhat by the awkward business hours. A closing time of 5:00 p.m. does not leave a mother of three with many opportunities for coffee shop downtime. But I had to at least take a peek at the place.
I promptly fell inlove. Leaving her little brothers to snooze at home, Caelah and I set off to explore. I knew I liked it the moment we walked up the front steps. The shop is sandwiched snuggly between a 15-story apartment building, and a corner grocery store. It occupies the bottom floor of an old red brick house, and is fronted by a big freshly-painted porch. Both on the porch, and off, are scattered a handful of sturdy black patio tables. Inside, the walls are painted grass green, while everything else is either a glossy new black, or silver. I loved it. I made a mental note to apply the exact same colour scheme somewhere in our new house.
Being the bottom floor of a house, the place went on and on: Coffee counter and baking up front, and a huge hardwood space at the back, with couches, and a kids area. Let me repeat--a kids area! I have always given downtown Ottawa's food/retail scene a failing grade for the lack of effort put forth by businesses to accomodate moms. Needless to say, Caelah has given it her approval. "The place is so great," she told my mom over the phone, "it has kids toys."
I spoke with the woman to whom the shop belonged, and guess what? She wants me to consider working there. She has a young daughter herself, and responded empathetically to my desire to get out of the house every once and a while. And after telling her about my years at Second Cup, she told me that once they extended their hours, she would definetly be in need of a coffee girl.
So, I will drop off my dusty resume, and see what happens. Will the, once highly skilled, barista take up her grinder and steam pitcher one more? Stay tuned. In the meantime, I will steal away for a coffee as often as I am able. There goes the pocket change.
