Los Angeles

The coffee at my office is crap; the powers that be care little about the taste and more about fueling our ability to rack up billable hours. I have the opposite viewpoint: I will only drink coffee if it’s good whether I need it or no. Intelligentsia on Sunset Blvd. meets my criteria. Over-caffeinated Silver Lakians (or is it Silver Lakers?) have been anticipating the opening of this Chicago based coffee shop for some time. Rumor had it that they had a Clover, a $11,000 coffee machine that brews the best cup o’ joe ever. Intelligentsia and the Clover indeed deliver – this is one great cup of coffee. The coffee menu reads like one of those laminated “Wine Pick” cards that you see at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Los Inmortales from El Salvador (my pick last Saturday) is described as having the attributes of “dried berry,” “lemon citrus fruit,” and “chocolate.” They offer only twelve coffee drinks, most of them espresso based, and a good selection of teas. For sanity’s sake only one size of drink is available; this is such an improvement over that abominable system of renaming Small, Medium, and Large.

Photo:  Bon Vivant

Feeding the monkey ain’t what it used to be. What with the teenagers burning your espresso at Starbucks instead of taking your order at In & Out, and the frapped milk shakes designed to induct those same teenagers into “coffee” drinking, the corporate world has adopted the same demographic aims as the movie industry. Well, leave it to Silverlake (via Chicago) to bring us the salve we need: an artisanal coffee shop. One doesn’t usually think of a coffee bean as being in season, but Intelligentsia only offers brews that are just that, as well as the most delicious cappuccino I’ve had in years. In addition, Intelligentsia uses the...(drumroll)...Clover. This brewer is almost literally worth its weight in gold, and brews a single cup of coffee at a time that tastes like it came from a French press. (Side note: If that didn’t just turn you on, you don’t love coffee.) Add in the Silverlake milieu, the simple & pared down feel of the decor, and the cascading mist that is jetted about the outdoor patio, and I didn’t even mind the easterly heat. A cool mist and a primo cappuccino—the monkey was very very satisfied.

Photo:  adam c. marshall