Ciao again,

I lucked out big-time today: I just discovered that Blue Bottle has a second kiosk at the Farmers Market on Saturdays, and this one has six levers! Astoria AL4 + AL2, manned by 3 busy baristas (+ 1 doing manual drip). This kiosk is on the south side of the San Francisco Ferry Building, under a tent. Today they were pulling shots of the Roman Espresso, my favorite blend. No fancy Fellini maneuvers, but superb nonetheless. Woo-Hoo!

Wayne

johhnyguitar wrote: Tried the Safehouse in Tucson, unfortunately only an ok cup.
Tried the Ragin Sage Coffee in Tucson also, button pusher. WAY too hot,

IMHO, the 'Sage and the Safehouse are decent places. The Coffee Vein, Caffe Luce, and Crave are the better shops. And I'da told you that had you mentioned that you were going to be in town. OTOH, you coulda come to my place and chosen between the Astoria 'button pusher' (I have the same machine as the 'Sage, but in the 'tall' version, in which the volumetric dosing is a choice, not a standard, btw) backed by a matched pair of Majors or the Factory backed by the PeDe manual. Next time.
Speaking of, I'm going to be in Boise at the end of May. Where am I going for coffee?

I don't frequent any of the places mentioned in this thread, but before I travel next I will review it again- and that website too.

I was told by an espresso machine dealer that the temperature stability of a commercial lever is inferior, so the only reason to get one is because they can run on gas with no need for electricity. But there are ways of adjusting temperature. Someone here even PID'd a lever. Does anyone know of a thread reviewing the use of a commercial lever? Otherwise I'm left waiting to pick the brain of the poor barista who is working the day I run into one of the 'lever espresso stands of the world.'

Looks like BlueBottle has been busy. While I enjoy their roasts considerably, I haven't yet had the pleasure of experiencing one of their pulls. They've opened up a brick and mortar cafe in San Francisco and appear to have a lever installed with a youthful operator ! http://www.flickr.com/photos/13346512@N03/2200127780/
From their site: http://bluebottlecoffee.net/cafe.html "We will be opening (have opened) on a formerly pee-smelling alley on the corner of Mint and Jessie in downtown San Francisco now excitingly called Mint Plaza. We will be serving toast, a few snacks, maybe a glass of wine in the evening. Oh, and coffee."

A review of their Japanese siphon bar appeared in the NY Times earlier this year. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dinin ... ref=slogin

I'm not associated with them, just looking forward to trying it out.

arri

I had a number of great cups of espresso at Avellino in Bellingham Washington when I was visiting a few weeks ago. They have a beautiful gaggia lever machine that looks quite a bit like the "Gaggia Orione" posted on page 7 of the Lever gallery. It is well worth the visit if you are nearby. Here is their contact info

(360) 715-1005: 1329 Railroad Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225

Catalyst Espresso, 111 N Higgins, Missoula MT. I don't recall the machine make/model but it's not one I've heard of before. They pull a Seattle bean but darn if I can remember which one. Pic is from our August (2008) road trip.

Toby's Estate in City Road, Chippendale (Sydney, Australia) has a Kees van der Westen idocompresso and a mirage pump machine too. Getting there are the right time to be able to sit and have a quiet coffee either requires me to be a student, unemployed, or out of bed outrageously early on a weekend, but I'll get there eventually.

Greg

The lever machine in service closest to my home is not in a cafe, but rather a restaurant - Tutta Bella, a relatively large, busy certified Neapolitan pizza place, N 44th and Stone Way N in Seattle. There's a twin restaurant elsewhere in the city, don't know but I'd guess they would have the same setup.

Don't know the make. Two groups, of the usual type (Astoria?), ornate housing. It's operated by the bar staff, who also deal with wine and maybe gelato. They make very small espressos. Drinkable, nothing really special, but for me it's a thrill to see wee plain espressos being served to Americans after dinner as if this was the most ordinary thing - which I suppose it would be in Naples, but not in Seattle (though there are other restaurants here that can do it as well or better.) I think the lever helps - it sets up a little different context from the latte cafe scene we're so used to. And it helps that the place is big enough to support a bar person who can be trained to operate the machine.

There was also a cafe in the University district, but they're no longer at that location.

Well, this thread has made me eel quite sick with jealousy. Boulder is now officially on my list of potential emigration destinations. Pity about the weather

On the info front, there is a great little familiy-run beachside restauarant/bar at Cala Codolar with an ancient lever machine that works rather nicely. Pity about the beans, which make the espresso acceptable but nothing special. The food is excellent through.....

"De Ijsbeer"* in Breda, Holland has a CMA 2 group lever machine. They sell predominately icecream, so i never tried in fear of dissapointment.

*Translated "The Icebear".