Bethesda Row [take 2]

Well, let me give you a little update on the progress being made in our latest venture. As of today, we have passed the initial plumbing, electrical and building inspections and immediately began closing in the walls with 2 layers of drywall. Tomorrow, we will get there super early to install the bar along the back wall with a marble table and start putting the marble bar together that runs the length of the store. If all goes as we plan, which it never does, we will be 95% complete with the setup of our store by Saturday. So, after that, we will take next week to connect the walk-in freezer and ask for our final inspections - plumbing, electrical, building, mechanical and fire. We are projecting an opening date of April the 15th and are pretty confident with this date. As the photo shows, the complex itself still needs some work. We are hoping, along with a lot of other folks in the project, that Federal Realty will soon pass their needed inspections so we can open our doors by the middle of April.
This has been a pretty intense week so far. We participated in our first ever Taste of the Nation event on Monday night and then had to be in Bethesda at 7am both Tuesday and Wednesday for inspections. The Taste of the Nation was a wonderful event with some amazing food and we passed our inspections, so even though we are baggy eyed, we are happy and ready to get through to the end.
To add the frenzy of activity, April 3rd we start up in the Penn Quarter FRESHFARM Market and April the 6th in the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market. So, if you see us a bit baggy eyed, you will know why, and we will probably accept a cup of coffee, if you offer.

FURTHUR

Every morning we get up bright & early and head to our shop to begin juicing the citrus, pitting the peaches, melting the chocolate, infusing the herbs and roasting the nuts, all in the day's prep to craft our 20 pans of gelati, which we produce everyday for that day's consumption [minor note - we first sip exquisite shots of freshly pulled toscano espresso, not answering phones or questions until this daily ritual is complete]. Yeah we know, it's a bit obsessive and a ton of work, but everyday our showcase freezer transforms into a work of art, which changes day to day & season to season, depending on how the gelato falls from the batch freezer, which fruits are in season or which flavors we are inspired to craft that day. Over 4 years ago we embarked on this journey, and we never imagined how inspiring gelato could be. We get to know amazing and passionate farmers, brilliantly creative chefs and we get to see our shop fill up with smiles from people showing their approval without saying a word. We make everything with our own hands and there is such an immediacy to the whole process that gives us such a deep satisfaction. All of this pushes us FURTHUR down the elusive search for perfection, knowing that once we get close, it will slowly nudge away.

Coffee Greatness

This past Friday our little local was touched by a horde of coffee greatness. United Kingdom and World Barista Champion, James Hoffmann stopped by. He is on an East Coast Coffee Tour and was in DC for an event over at the DC Counter Culture Training Center that night. He came by with Anette Moldvaer, a World Cup Tasting Champion, Cindy Chang, a super-sweetie from Counter Culture Coffee, Trish Skeie, ex-Director of Coffee at Zoka Coffee Roasters, Nick Cho, the owner of Murky Coffee, David Fritzler, Coffee and Beverage Operation Director at Tryst and Open City, Greg Scace, the inventor of the Scace device which measures the actual temperature of the brew head on espresso machines, Katie Duris from Murky Coffee, Ryan Jensen from Counter Culture Coffee and Aaron Ultimo from Murky Coffee. Wheww! That's a lot of folks.
It was really nice to hang out and talk with people so involved, dedicated and passionate about coffee. I took James, Anette, Cindy and David on a little tour of our production area and fed them full of gelato. It was great to get flavor feed-back from such folks who live and breathe coffee, as sipping espresso every morning for the last four years has been so vital to the development and opening of my palate to the complex flavors and aromas in coffee. At Dolcezza, we are beginning to send all of our employees to the Counter Culture training center over in Adams Morgan to continue the development of our baristas. Coffee is one of those things that the deeper into it you go, the bigger it gets, or in other words, we never stop learning how to pull a more balanced shot of espresso, or how to froth the perfectly foamed milk. It compliments our pursuit of artisanal gelato so perfectly and continues to evolve each and every day.
So, James and Anette, it was a pleasure to meet you both and I can't stop kicking myself for not asking James to make me a cappuccino, where I could hang over his shoulder trying to soak up the knowledge. Oh well, maybe next time. kick+kick+kick+kick...