Lingbo's Awesome Blog » Coffee shops

Should Cafes Ask Customers to Leave?

Lingbo Li — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:04:28 +0000

My favorite cafe asked me to leave last week. For the second time.

I’ll tell you why I feel sad: when I first found Crema Cafe two years ago, I fell in love. I spent so much time there, my sweaters absorbed its scent, an inexorable melange of lattes, carbs, and indie-pop Pandora playlists. The owners described it as a place between home and work; I took that quite literally. I proudly told my friends I was considering moving in.

Over the past two years, I’ve spent so many happy hours in that cafe. I love bringing my laptop to do work on the upstairs level. I’ve forcibly dragged friends there and bought them my favorites, just so they could be converted. I’ve blogged about them, plugged them on Serious Eats, posted photos to various food sites. When I signed up for Mint.com, I budgeted a very liberal portion for “coffee.”

If you ask me for restaurant recommendations, you’ll likely hear raves about their turkey-avocado-jicama-slaw sandwich or their baked-fresh-from-scratch pastries.

So I disappointed when I was asked to leave during a busy Saturday afternoon to make room for other customers. I’d been there for a little over 2 hours with my laptop, and had planned on taking a seat closer to a wall outlet when one of the owners stepped in. (I had polished off a medium coffee and a chicken sandwich.) He had promised that table to another customer; since I had headphones on, I hadn’t seen the line forming behind me.

He was apologetic. As I was leaving, he apologized again. And this was the second time – a month before, a different owner had asked me to leave, but relented when I bought another sandwich. I’ve generally tried to share my table or buy another pastry during marathon study sessions, but I know I’ve overstayed my welcome in the past.

And I understand why they’re taking a more aggressive tack. Mostly. They charge reasonable prices for freshly made food. They have high labor costs and rent; they depend on table turnover and volume to pay the bills. I ended up chatting that owner for about an hour about the trials of the business world and how to solve the problem of being too popular.

I’m happy Crema has done well. It clearly has no problem attracting loyal customers and long lines. But I’m disappointed that the same place that I cheered for and championed feels that its success is dependent on asking me to leave. Are the two really at odds?

Perhaps this Seth Godin (a well-known marketer) post about “best customers” summarizes some of how I’m feeling:

If you define “best customer” as the customer who pays you the most, then I guess it’s not surprising that the reflex instinct is to charge them more. After all, they’re happy to pay.

But what if you define “best customer” as the person who brings you new customers through frequent referrals, and who sticks with you through thick and thin? That customer, I think, is worth far more than what she might pay you in any one transaction. In fact, if you think of that customer as your best marketer instead, it might change everything.

If you’re a cafe lover, do you think cafe owners should ask customers who have finished eating to leave?

Cafe owners, how do you deal with slow table turnover?

A love affair with coffee shops – The Biscuit in Somerville

Lingbo Li — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:00:01 +0000

Fruit tart ($3.50) at The Biscuit in Somerville

It was spring, freshman year. By then, the Cambridge frost had receded from the cobblestone, and warm air spilled out from T stop as you walked by. To cheer myself up, I’d appoint myself in a wrap dress and green wedge sandals, the ones my mother bought me from China, and slip on a pair of $10 sunglasses. Then I’d find a coffeeshop.

And I’d sit there, feeling the caffeine ooze into my blood, my fingertips, buzzing in the back of my mouth. There was something nice about being surrounded by people you didn’t feel guilty for not knowing.

As a result, I’m an unapologetic table hog. I’ve planned days where I come in the morning, buy a large cup of joe, stake out a table, and stay for a good 8 hours. I love how coffeeshops occupy a liminal space that is not quite home, school, or work.

You can go by yourself, or with a friend. You can talk, or not talk. You can linger, or you can rush. You can eat, or just drink.

The Biscuit is a favorite of mine that I often forget. They suffer from a few flaws – there’s no wifi, and seating could be more plentiful. Their pastries are enormous – think, biscotti the width of your forearm – and cheap. But you’d probably have better luck, in terms of execution, with their hot sandwiches. You can even get them in halves for $3.25 each. Blissful.

I was seduced by the candy-toned hues of their fruit tart ($3.50), but was a little underwhelmed by the crust, which was more of a brioche than a pastry crust. Maybe a personal preference. Even so, I love the charm of their mismatched wooden chairs, chalkboard menu, and low prices. If you’re looking for a more substantial lunch, Kebab Factory down the street has Cambridge’s best Indian buffet by far. It’s a lovely part of town, and one that Harvard students don’t often discover.

Find it!

———-

The Biscuit

406 Washington St
Somerville, MA 02143
(617) 666-2770

Harvard Square Cafes: the definitive guide

Lingbo Li — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:46:40 +0000

a brownie from Crema (good for camping out to)

Harvard Square is home not only to a lot of foot-fetishizing Japanese tourists and uppity academics, but also an overwhelming number of cafes. For real cafe die-hards, these businesses are much more than a coffee dispenser. (I’m looking at you, the one nursing your $3 latte for 6 hours.) Here’s to admitting that your trapped-on-a-desert-island essentials include your Macbook, a wi-fi connection, and a hard stool you had to elbow through the lunch rush crowd for.

Read my definitive list on where to slum it, where to pretend you’re bohemian, and where to camp out for HOURS on Citysearch.

My favorite secret study spot in Harvard Square: Karma Tea

Lingbo Li — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:22:42 +0000

I may regret letting this one out of the bag, but Karma Tea on Mass Ave is a truly magical study nook. While it may be better known for the yoga studio attached to it, the floor-to-ceiling windows, rock sculptures, and comfy faux-suede chairs are every bit as zenergizing as the physical exertions in the studio upstairs. They carry vegan muffins from Veggie Planet (haven’t sampled these, but “blueberry lime” sounds intriguing) and I’ve enjoyed their cupcake treats in the past. Recently, I had a hibiscus elderflower lemonade which tasted similar to a cranberry lemonade with a more floral note. $2.25 netted me a giant, elegant iced glass of it. Did I mention there’s a great outlet board to plug your laptop into AND free wi-fi? Magic, indeed.

Starbucks in China: The Good, The Bad, and the Sugarfree

Lingbo Li — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:52:27 +0000

A Starbucks in Chengdu, China

While Starbucks is sometimes seen as a monolithic coffeeslinger to the upwardly mobile masses, the coffee chain’s branches abroad don’t entirely conjure up home. Though it’s mostly a deliciously familiar task of navigating between tall, grande, and venti, be it NYC or Shanghai, I felt alienated at times without my standby sugarfree option and decent English magazines. (I wrote about how much I adored Starbucks in my post about being culture shocked.)

Starbucks is transliterated/translated as 星巴克 (xing ba ke, literally star + transliteration of “bucks”). They’ve done an admirable and interestingly incomplete job of localizing its stores.

Overall, I will say that the similarities far outweigh the differences. Starbucks is not meant to be a Chinese experience so much as a Western one, including the quirky name scheme for different sizes, which is preserved. Its foreignness, that is to say, is a desirable quality. But the changes reveal interesting cultural differences in how – or which – people drink this stuff.

Some background: the Chinese coffee market is rapidly growing – one industry report pegs growth in the double digits – and there’s plenty of room for expansion. Per capita consumption hasn’t reached .1kg yet, while Japan, another traditionally tea-drinking nation, gulps down 3.3kg per capita. Starbucks first moved into the Chinese market in 1999 with its first store in the China World Trade Center in Beijing and has been expanding rapidly ever since.

Another Starbucks in Chengdu.

Coffee has really taken off in urban areas, where you can see expats and Chinese alike sucking down giant Fraps during business meetings. Here, it’s more a fact of daily life, but if you talk to the laobaixing (normal people), particularly the older generation and those not as well off, they’ll cringe at the idea of drinking coffee.
On foldout Beijing map distributed by the company, it not only maps every Starbucks locale (66 in total at the time of printing, 68 now), but also touts the chain as a blend of local and American culture. While the menu has a familiar slate of iced coffee, macchiatos, and lattes, I noticed major differences in not only drinks, but also the way they’re ordered.

Here’s a quick and dirty rundown of what you can expect.

What’s different.

1) There’s no sugarfree option.
Actually, the whole concept of “sugarfree” is pretty alien in China. Your only real option for sugarless drinks is diet Coke, and even then, that’s not guaranteed in most restaurants. So when you order your caramel frappucino, rest assured it comes with nothing but real sweetness. If you ask baristas about Splenda, they may look at you blankly (“Fake sugar! In yellow packets!” I tried to explain) but it is offered as a nod to those kooky Western traditions.

2) There’s less customization.
American Starbucks views a coffee drink as a make-your-own affair. The menu is not so much a menu, but a starting point for a perfectly customized, no whip, sugar free, extra shot concoction. Chinese people, however, tend to order coffee as it is labeled on the menu without lots of special requests – partly because most people aren’t that familiar with coffee in the first place. Some menus I’ve seen also have helpful, illustrated instructions on how to order a coffee, with steps like choosing a size and deciding whip or no whip.

3) Specialty flavors cater to local palates.
I tried a coffee with grass jelly concoction that would seem more in place at a bubble tea stop. Bits of black jelly shot up my straw, cool and slippery, as I marveled at the “glocalization” of a simple drink. The bill came out… a lot. Which brings me to my next point.

4) Prices are sky high.
The tall iced coffee, at 15 RMB (about 2.20 USD) is the drink closest to its US price. But since coffee is considered a luxury, lifestyle drink here, its pricing places it firmly out of the reach of many and even caused me to think twice about ordering anything but uh, a tall iced coffee. A simple vanilla latte is 30 RMB, about 4.40 USD, more than you would pay stateside. To put 30 RMB in context, a cheap entree in a Chinese restaurant in Shanghai would run about 15 RMB. A bowl of noodles is 5-6 RMB. Eat several meals or drink a latte? I would hate to choose.

5) There’s no extra charge for soy.
This is a land of soy!

6) People tend to sit and stay.
There’s a lot less takeout business (http://www.seattlepi.com/business/228728_sbuxchina16.html), and a lot more sipping, socializing, and meeting up. People stay for the experience, rather than just grabbing a pick-me-up and dashing.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: what hasn’t changed.

1) Baristas repeat the order in English.
One quirk, however, is “tall iced coffee” becomes “iced tall coffee.”

2) Similar snacks and food are offered.
There’s the same offering of biscotti and muffins, but wait: Starbucks-branded moon cakes! At insane prices!

Yep, that's 328 yuan, or $48 USD, for four decorative cakes. Or you could buy nearly 70 bowls of noodles for the same price. Or a five course meal at a very nice restaurant.

3) Tall iced coffee is pretty much the same thing – and price – on both continents.

It’s my standby cheap, low cal, caffeinated pick me up. When I was back on American soil, it was also the first thing I bought in the LA airport, waiting for my connecting flight. Some good things just never change.

4) Baristas are (bizarrely) friendly.
I have no proof that I didn’t just happen to have naturally friendly baristas. But if you’ve tasted service culture in China, you know that good, Chinese-style service tends towards deferential, not chatty. In fact, my cashier asking casually if I was late to work one morning as I dropped a bookbag on the counter threw me for a loop. I wouldn’t have thought twice about it in the US, but the day before, something similar had happened. Did they… train them to make small talk? I have to wonder.

5) There are plenty of competitors.
Just as Starbucks must contend with independent coffeehouses and chains like Coffee Beanery and Peet’s Coffee in the US, there’s even more visible competition in major cities like Shanghai where every other street sports rivals like SPR Coffee (http://www.sprcoffee.com/), Costa Coffee (http://www.costa.co.uk/), and the Coffee Bean (http://coffeebean.com/).

Happy caffeinating!

Awesome egg sandwiches, tripe-laden bowls of pho, and Lingbo in a beesuit.

Lingbo Li — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:12:05 +0000

This was a oozy, flaky breakfast sandwich ($3.50) from Crema Cafe, who turns out a mean breakfast sandwich (as well as zuchinni hazelnut loaf and brownie). The english muffin is homemade. I kind of regret eating it, because a Thomas english muffin will just never be the same. Maybe it is just because it’s toasted. Toasted is absolutely key.

Big bowl’o'noodles from Le’s in the Garage in Harvard Square. This was my friend’s meal, I only tasted a bit. In a very out of character move for me, I prefer my experience at Le’s to be limited to #15 on their menu: the special beef bowl of pho, complete with loveliness like tripe and tendon. Then I absolutey ANNIHILATE it with chili sauce and hoisin sauce.

The only snag in my plan was that I made my friend Ahmed taste it. He almost died. Then I thought this was hilarious, so I started laughing, which turned into a cough, which turned into FIERY SPICES UP MY NOSE.

I cried a little bit, then quietly finished the rest of my bowl, nostrils still singed. Moral of story: if you’re going to choke on something, make it mild.

See below:

glorious innards bits

And also, I made two trips down to Jamaica Plain recently for a GoodEater.org article on beekeeping. Here is a preview of me wearing a crazy beesuit:

fashion statement

I figured after all of this writing and reporting on local honey, I might as well buy some. Then I figured I would buy some bread and granola too (a girl’s gotta eat). I got some nice loot from the Allandale Farms shop, including a small jar of Mike Graney‘s honey ($4.49).

granola, EatLocalHoney.com honey, and a locally made ciabatta

Sadly, I did something incredibly typically stupid of me and tried to open the honey on the T ride back. Of course, I lost control of the jar and suddenly, I was covered in sticky stuff with nowhere to put it. After some feeble attempts to rip off the plastic seal, I wrapped it in a sheet torn from Stuff magazine and resigned myself to sticky fate. Until I hit Starbucks and washed up, anyway.

It’s good that I find my own klutziness hilarious.

A Brownie that Makes my Stony Heart Melt

Lingbo Li — Sun, 10 May 2009 01:46:43 +0000

Crema Cafe, 1.25 for half a brownie

another loving, chocolatey angle

There’s nothing quite like a good brownie to make the final paper blues go away. This decadent steal of a half-brownie ($1.25) subscribes to a more “cake” brownie rather than a fudgey one.

That means that each luscious little crumb is like the most densely velvety constellation of cake heaven in your mouth. It crumbles, it melts. It’s magical. I keep tearing off tiny little bits and eating the crumbs off my fingers. They must put crack cocaine in this stuff.

Some food porn from Harvard Square

Lingbo Li — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:01:57 +0000

Sometimes a foodie has to write a lot of papers (churned out 35 pages of writing, only another 20 to go by Friday!) and she just wants to post some photos… so here are some I’ve taken in the past few weeks.

$1 Oyster Mondays at Rialto in Harvard Square, best with a squeeze of lemon

I adore oysters, the aftertaste of sea, the freshness and briny goodness cut through a zingy squirt of lemon. Add some good company, and it’s a party.

A turkey/avocado sandwich from Cafe Pamplona - so so

Also posted to the lovely 3 Buck Bites awhile ago.

I thought this was funny.

Found this on the walk between Central Square and Mulan, a great Chinese restaurant I ate at recently. Apparently they make candy.

Butter in Iceland, for real.

But of course!

Cafe Pamplona

Lingbo Li — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:52:52 +0000

Cafe Pamplona, a charming, yellow-painted cafe in Harvard Square, is the kind of place where you read your literature coursepack with a tiny cup of coffee (try the shot of espresso, shot of condensed milk combo). Due to its small space and close tables, this is a poor place to have a serious conversation or first date if it isn’t crowded enough and every awkward revelation is made very, very clear.

The food was pretty average to mediocre cafe fare, with a few pleasant surprises like a guava and muenster grilled cheese. Stay far away from the desserts, which were not worth the calories. The fruit tart was a hard, tasteless shell filled with a pedestrian vanilla pudding and topped with so-so fruit. 3.95. I’d rather have a Frapp.

The rum cake did a little better, but was nothing to blog about. Except for the fact I already have photos, so here they are.

Cupcakes at Karma Tea – Sesame with Azuki filling and Rosewater Pistachio

Lingbo Li — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:35:01 +0000

Potato leek soup at Crema Cafe in Harvard Square

Lingbo Li — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:48:24 +0000

I love simple dinners like this, where a mere 3.50 gets you a creamy bowl of comfort food with a fresh slice of airy, homemade focaccia. I realized when I sat down that the soup had a rich dollop of sour cream in the middle and a few strips of fried onion garnish, just to make it that much more luxurious. I scraped the sides and licked my spoon clean. Mmm.

Apologies for the crappy Photobooth picture.