Patrick
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Café in Palo Alto
Ok, I miss my Austrian Café's. By now everybody should know that.
People try to help me and point me to there favorite Cafés in town and so, every time I give it another try to find a Café which fulfills my few basic needs.
It's Palo Alto, for gods sack, a small town yes, but one of the richest one in the world. There must be some place serving descent coffee. Yes, I like Starbucks coffee, but the coffee is not served. So what are my basic needs?
So why is that? Is it because of missing demand, do Americans prefer the freedom to get there coffee them self, waiting in line? Perhaps to chat up other people in line???
This bothers me, so I keep on talking with American's about that. Asking why? I try to explain, why Austrian Cafés have better service, but nobody seems to get my point.
One explanation, starts with the waiter in mind. The idea of serving coffee, or serving in general, is labeled as a poor job. Which nobody likes to do. Unlike in Austria where we call the waiter Herr Ober, which is considered the highest position in the shop. So being the Ober is something people can be proud about. You can tell, just by watching the Ober. His movement has to follow a certain style and arrogance. He knows, it's something not everybody could do. He has a tradition to keep up. Vienna is known for there Café's and it is his responsibility to keep the high standard up, for another century.
So as long as I'm here I have to live with this barbarian baristas, who drink there coffee in paper cups, while walking the street.
→ On 23 Jul 2002, 09:24 am commented wenyu to this story: Very funny. IÁÏm not sure this would make you feel better or worse. But I didn't find any satisfying coffee house in P.A. during the year I stayed at Stanford. Neither did my classmate from China. (we made joint effort in the search sometimes.) And my standards on coffee house are apparently not as high as yours. Good luck.
→ On 28 Jul 2002, 03:36 pm commented veronique to this story: hi patrick, perhaps we could meet at "in einem sonntag im august" again? berlin misses you!!!! konrad and i are going to visit you in vienna as soon as possible to get to know the wunderful atmosphere of vienna«s coffeehouses.... 20 hugs, veronique
People try to help me and point me to there favorite Cafés in town and so, every time I give it another try to find a Café which fulfills my few basic needs.
It's Palo Alto, for gods sack, a small town yes, but one of the richest one in the world. There must be some place serving descent coffee. Yes, I like Starbucks coffee, but the coffee is not served. So what are my basic needs?
- a cup of coffee (expresso, preferable with hot milk in a cup)
- newspaper (not just tabloids)
- service (yes, indeed)
So why is that? Is it because of missing demand, do Americans prefer the freedom to get there coffee them self, waiting in line? Perhaps to chat up other people in line???
This bothers me, so I keep on talking with American's about that. Asking why? I try to explain, why Austrian Cafés have better service, but nobody seems to get my point.
One explanation, starts with the waiter in mind. The idea of serving coffee, or serving in general, is labeled as a poor job. Which nobody likes to do. Unlike in Austria where we call the waiter Herr Ober, which is considered the highest position in the shop. So being the Ober is something people can be proud about. You can tell, just by watching the Ober. His movement has to follow a certain style and arrogance. He knows, it's something not everybody could do. He has a tradition to keep up. Vienna is known for there Café's and it is his responsibility to keep the high standard up, for another century.
So as long as I'm here I have to live with this barbarian baristas, who drink there coffee in paper cups, while walking the street.
→ On 23 Jul 2002, 09:24 am commented wenyu to this story: Very funny. IÁÏm not sure this would make you feel better or worse. But I didn't find any satisfying coffee house in P.A. during the year I stayed at Stanford. Neither did my classmate from China. (we made joint effort in the search sometimes.) And my standards on coffee house are apparently not as high as yours. Good luck.
→ On 28 Jul 2002, 03:36 pm commented veronique to this story: hi patrick, perhaps we could meet at "in einem sonntag im august" again? berlin misses you!!!! konrad and i are going to visit you in vienna as soon as possible to get to know the wunderful atmosphere of vienna«s coffeehouses.... 20 hugs, veronique
Labels: eat+drink, Patrick, Stanford
posted on Monday, July 22, 2002
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