Friday, September 16, 2011

Hark! A New Menu There Be!

I'm just finishing up some menu work for a place whose mission and product I truly believe in. The place? Metropolis Coffee, with a cafe in Edgewater on Granville featuring the aforementioned menu and a roasterie that keeps Andersonville smelling great on Clark. Metropolis sources and roasts some of the best coffee around, and deserves the majority of credit for my interest in and (very) limited knowledge of coffee. The passion they put into their product really shines, and for that reason, I'm proud to be behind the conception, sourcing and implementation of a like food program.

It's a challenge, spending but a month creating a menu and a functional kitchen; sourcing the right product and staff; then getting it all up and running. But that's the easy part. Letting go of the program, walking away and leaving it running--in capable hands, it should be noted--will be the true test. I'll admit, I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to things like this. But hey--the food is simple yet well prepared, which should make sense to those of you familiar with the F.o.t.D. ethic and my style of cooking. And it is a cafe, after all. I understand the coffee has to come first, and the food should complement that. After all, they go to great lengths (quite literally--one of the owners just returned from a trip to Brazil to source great coffee) in the sourcing and production of their coffee, and to them, it's all about guiding one of the world's great natural goods into a cup, relying on the quality of the coffee rather than manipulation in the roasting process. There's a good deal of the terroir concept in their work, and we, as humans, are simply guides, or more accurately, transporters in the process. By now you know that's my belief in food as well. So if you're in the neighborhood, please stop by the cafe. We serve from 6:30am-2:00pm; if not, keep cooking that good food you know and love.