We took a back way into center city Philadelphia Saturday morning, headed for one of our favorite coffee places, when we noticed a new shop called the Lucky Goat at the corner of 24th and Poplar Streets (an actively gentrifying neighborhood following decades of severe decay). We probably would have gone back another time rather than stopping right then, but I could see a Faema commercial machine on their counter and made our friend (the driver - we were in the back seat) pull over.

I don't know enough about these to know if it's a modern "Legend" or an original one, and the 2 guys in the shop hadn't a clue - but whatever it is, it's really cool. It had more patina than I'd expect on a recent one, but it could just be a modern version that was bought used from one of the many shops that have come and gone over the last few years after a hard life. It did have a warning label on the left side, and I suspect they didn't carry consumer protection info back in the '60s - that seems to make it more likely to be a recent one.

The steam wand was longer and more curved than the ones in the current Faema website pictures of a 2 group Legend, and the tip on the water wand was larger and seemed to have a flat end rather than the slightly shaped one pictured. So it's either older or modded from the base version shown on the Faema site. Whatever version it is, it steamed like a locomotive. It's great to see something other than the identical LMs found at most places.

If it's a Legend, a logo tag on the backplate near the groups would indicate that.

I couldn't see the back of the machine well enough from the corner of the counter to see it, if it's there. And I suspect we won't be back - it was 4 for 4 that the coffee was mediocre. Both of us who tried a shot found it to be watery and bitter, which was obvious in our cappuccinos too.

These are such beautiful machines! There were 2 for sale locally (Toronto) at the same time, but I was a day or so late on both. The 1 group was going for $2k (!!) and the 2 group for $4500, both in our low CDN dollar! Was a bit sad I couldn't have one of those Legends in our house!