Project Coffee; One World Cafe

Project coffee still lives! 

I've been a little derelict in my duties to Project Coffee. Please forgive me coffee gods. We drank at the coffee temple known as One World Cafe which is in Charles Village right next to Johns Hopkins University. The place is part cafe, part bar and part veggie restaurant and ALLLLLL good. Turns out too that it's the rare cafe open on a Sunday morning. I went to two others and found them closed before going to OWC. You got to love a place that you can give initials like that. 

Met up with Sean there, actually after a few hours before meeting up with some friends from Silver Spring for breakfast. Still hungry though I got Chai Latte, which is becoming my staple, and a giant slab of coffee cake. Then I proceeded to eat Sean's nachos. As you can see from the pictures he was pretty upset. 

I've gone to the OWC quite a few times now and it's always fun. A cool group of people work there including the American version of Russel Brand. I also once met there Mackenzie Astin, the star of one of my favorite movies as a kid, Iron Will, which come to found out pretty much no one else ever saw. 

So hooray for One World Cafe. 

Project Coffee; Teavolve

The first rule of Project Coffee is: you do not talk about Project Coffee. The second rule of Project Coffee is: you DO NOT talk about Project Coffee! Third rule of Project Coffee: if someone yells "stop!", goes limp, or taps out, coffee time is over.

Well I broke rules one and two. I invited two people along to Project Coffee. Photographers and friends Jonathan Hanson and Adriana Monsalve joined Sean and I at Teavolve down in Harbor East. Sean then beat the crap out of me for breaking the first two rules, but I managed to not go limp or tap out so it was ok. 

We talked business, advertising and Jonathan and I got feedback on portfolios we were working on. Good times. 

It was a hot day so I went with a smoothie for my drink of choice, breaking my streak of only getting coffee at these meet ups. Oh well. 

Teavolve is a pretty cool place, they walk the line of being high brow and yet still friendly very well. You can get a meal there or just drinks and the place seems to always have a pretty full crowd. It always seems to by very mom approved. Lots of moms. 

I think we may turn Project Coffee into a group affair once a month, there is something to be said for not ALWAYS looking like a gay couple with Sean. 

Project Coffee; Cafe Mocha

What time is it?! Cafe Mocha time! Project coffee continued at Kader's Cafe Mocha which is at 501 St. Paul St, right across from Penn Station. It is tucked away in the Post Office building, a hidden little gem. It really was nice though, everything from the chalk colored menus to the delicious curry sandwich! It's really too bad more people don't know about it, it's such a nice space that would be a good place to hang out. 

Sean Scheidt and I met up and talked about advertising, photo shoots, love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Basically our normal conversation material. 

Project Coffee; Gerry's Goods

Project Coffee continued at Gerry's Goods, recommended to Sean and I by our friend Joel Kurz who had come into contact with the place through his work as a pastor in the area. Gerry's was certainly the least pretentious of all the places we've visited. It was simple and new. You could get drinks, packaged good and chicken noodle soup. Which between the two of us we partook in all of the above. 

Of all the places we've gone I would have to say this was where we were greeted the most. I am not sure if it was just because we stuck out as two white guys in a place where two white guys weren't the most common sight. But, I got the impression we were greeted simply because people were nice and were glad to see a place like Gerry's Goods come into the neighborhood and wanted to see it succeed. The sight of Sean and I was a sign that it could succeed. 

I had a cup of Americana, which apparently is nothing more than expresso and water. A far cry from the homo erotic blueberry hazelnut latte or whatever I had a few weeks before, but it was good. Excellent sipping over a long talk. 

On my way back to my place from Gerry's I saw this beautiful mural seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I drove by it once and couldn't resist and turned around and came back to take some pictures. I was told by Sean later this is some sort of monument to children who have been killed in the area from violence. Whatever it is, I found it mesmorizingly beautiful, especially when placed in the contract of the ghetto part of town that surrounded it. 

Project Coffee; Red Emma's

Part four of Project Coffee (I still need to put up part one, for anyone who is counting) was most excellent! Met up with partner in coffee crime Sean Scheidt at Red Emma's a place on St. Paul in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. It's actually an archaist group owned collective, and although I asked I won't even pretend to try to explain how that works. 

Sean and I both got a chai latte which tasted faintly of some sort of spice cookie my mom used to make a lot. Whatever it was, it was good. 

The great food and drink was hardly the best part of the place though, the atmosphere put it all to shame. I don't know if we went there on a good day or what, but it was one of those places I imagined used to exist before "The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry." (Anyone know what that quote is from? huh huh huh??)

It was one of those places where everyone was sort of in on the conversation. You heard a lot of, "I couldn't help, but overhear what you said." Which was code for let us partake in discussion. Not exactly what happens in Starbucks where the only discussion usually seems to be could you please move, shut up, or stop doing that. 

Not exactly sure what anarchists got going down, but it seemed like good stuff. There was a chess game going on between and old white dude and a young black dude behind us. We got to watch Bohemian Rhapsody done by the Muppets on the cashiers computer while listening to it over the cafe's speakers. And our server who's name was Sine ended up being a really cool girl who is two bands, Mr. Moccasin and has just started a solo project called Bean, which I took a listen of and is really good. She's the one below with the mustache tattoo on her finger. You got to respect a tattoo that is only for comedic purposes.                          

Sean and I agreed Red Emma's was by far the best place we'd hit up so far. But, really how can you go wrong with a place that stands behind a Stolen Sharpie Revolution? You can't! That's how. 

Project Coffee; City Cafe

Project Coffee continues. Friday Sean Scheidt and I met up at City Cafe  in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore. It is quite the chic place. Half of the space is set up as as a coffee house and the other half is a restaurant. Turned out Sean was friends with the head chef Chad Gauss and had even shot his wedding a while back. We met Chad who was very nice and was telling us how he's really pushed to buy a lot more locally grown vegetables and now meats to serve. Apparently, hitting up the local farmer's markets is a large part of his job. I think I might see if I can tag along sometime and do a little documentary on some food from start to finish. 

I've decided on Project Coffee missions I am going to order based on the barista's favorite thing or the most popular. The barista this time said she just liked coffee, so I went with what she said was most popular. Apparently, City Cafe isn't the most macho hang cause I ended up getting a Blueberry Hazelnut Mocha...it pretty much tasted like blueberry pancakes in liquid form. Apparently, the I am making a slow, slow transition to "actual" coffee. 

Sean ended up getting an omelet with sweat potato fries that was delightful way to clog one's arteries. I'd recommend it if you're into all that clogging biz. 

Unfortunately, there were no couches for me to leave my ass groove in. I know the world is a sadder place now. 

Project Coffee

I have begun a new tradition in the life of Daniel, in an attempt to BmoreBedell. This is the tradition of man dates. Fellow photographer Sean Scheidt  and I decided to meet up last week at a cafe to talk shop, gossip and try to figure out the best way to take the photo world by storm.

It went so well that I thought to myself, "Daniel BmoreBedell, you should make this into a tradition." Brilliant idea number one. Then, wait for it....wait for it...brilliant idea number TWO, we should meet up once a week at a different cafe around Baltimore. The city has a ton of cafes so what a great way to get to know the city a little better and for me figure out the difference between bad caffeinated concoctions and good ones. 

I know I'm a late bloomer. I really have no idea what is good or bad. I still feel the need to ask for clarification on what is the difference between coffee, mocha, chai, latte, and whatever else there is, coffee snobs please forgive me my ignorance. 

First up on Project Coffee was the Patterson Perk. Located on the SW corner of Patterson Park on 2501 Eastern Ave. The barista recommended the vanilla mocha, which I got to admit was quite good. Which is saying something from someone who 99% of the time goes with the edgy choice of hot chocolate. I decided to up my game to coffee though after one too many times ordering the same thing as a 4 year old in line with me. 

The Perk is a cute little place. Yikes, I just used the word cute...so be it, it fits. Not much room, but quaint. (Why did the Mushroom go to the party? He's a fungi! Why did he leave? There wasn't mushroom. Why is this one of the jokes I can always remember? Reference the end of this paragraph.)Topics of the day were photo shoots gone horrible wrong, investing in plastics, lack of rich benefactors and women/or the lack thereof. I feel the latter will be a pretty consistent theme considering both of us are single for now. 

In the tradition of eco friendly camping I took only pictures and left only an ass groove. 

    

Patterson Perk grand entrance. 

Shinny object

Vanilla Mocha with a shot of fire extinguishing agent. It's the best!

Ass Groove