I am about a month into my home espresso journey and am really enjoying the hobby. My extractions and control of the machine and grinder are getting better, but I know I have a long way to go. I am also still struggling to generate a nice microfoam on my Vetrano 2B, which is critical to continue to get support from my wife who loves lattes.

I have seen other mentions of getting some in-person training to help cut the learning time in half and I really like that idea. How would I go about finding someone who can spend an hour or two with me to up my game? How important is it that this person have experience with my particular machine, specifically from a milk steaming perspective (I assume most qualified people would have some experience with the e61 side of things). I thought about offering to pay a barista at a local shop to come by, but I don't know if I know anyone out here in the western suburbs who has really impressed me.

Has anyone tried the Counter Culture training sessions on Friday mornings in the West Loop? Would that be helpful for someone like me?

Has anyone (in any city) tried just asking a local barista to come by to help with an on-site training? I am wondering if someone would look at me like I am crazy if I gave it a shot.

If you have a favorite barista, I'm sure they would. especially if you're friendly with them.

We tried hiring a couple local baristas for a training session and it fell through. They seemed to have trouble predicting schedule for the morning.

When discussing our equipment / recommended recipes with another local cafe manager, she offered to come help for free. The training was really helpful and lasted for around 3 hours. We gave her a gift card to a good local restaurant she said she liked.

I'm in a similar position, although I started a couple months ago.

you'd be surprised how much you can learn on your own, especially if you've always been somewhat autodidactic.

For generating consistent microfoam, I would recommend watching as many internet video tutorials as you can. Sight and sound are more important here, and Ive found videos where they give a good closeup of the milk are quite good. They really help, at least until such time as you find a way to get help in person. I'd post some specific links but i am afraid it may violate the forum rules. I'm still new here, sorry.

I have a Lucca M58, so I have been in your shoes and am now able to get consistent results with milk steaming on that using a 2 hole tip.

the goal is to position the tip at a depth barely under the surface so that you get an intermittent kissing sound early, while generating a similarly strong whirlpool effect to be sure the air is continuously and evenly incorporated. A video is worth a lot more than my cursory explanation though.