Cafe EZ -- Ellicott City, MD

A Coffee Maven Review

On a recent morning we woke up to home-roasted coffee I brewed in our hotel room, walked past the included lobby breakfast, and set off to meet my sister-in-law at a place we had chosen based on her experiences. 

It is my experience that VERY few places have both an excellent breakfast and excellent coffee. In fact, the Coffee Maven is usually happy to find one or the other. Still fresh from the home-roasted Primos mentioned above, I was ready to go to a diner with great food and perhaps skip the coffee. 

We were very encouraged when the door of  Cafe EZ flung open precisely at the 8:00 opening time, and the owner greeted us with enthusiasm. 

When we entered, my sister-in-law pointed out a lovely bit of coffee wit in one corner.

All you need is love ... and a cup of coffee
With a bird on the cup, reminding me of the terrific flim
Birdsong & Coffee

Next, I noticed something even more exciting: the default coffee that day was a single-origin coffee from what I would discover is a regional purveyor of specialty coffee and tea. 

Colombia La Meseta from Orinoco

When I see the word Orinoco, two thoughts come simultaneously to mind. The first is Mexican playwright Emilio Carballido's Orinoco, which Pamela and I saw while she was in her Spanish-literature graduate program. It was remarkable that a play with two characters and no props could evoke a riparian rain forest landscape so vividly. The second is the river itself: the southern headwaters of the Orinoco are so flat and wet that one can travel upstream from Guayana City in Venezuela, over a divide, and then downstream into the Rio Negro of Brazil into Manaus and ultimately return to the Atlantic at Belém. Have a look on Google maps. As I write this, I am realizing that this river essentially makes the greater Guyana highlands area a huge island, or semi-continent with a forested moat. 

But the Coffee Maven digresses. Back to the café itself. Situated in a small office park and with a very simple, clean decor, the place nevertheless has great atmosphere and great food. The owner clearly enjoys both his staff and his customers -- I heard at least three languages spoken during our short visit and saw great teamwork as some of the food supplies for the day arrived in the opening minutes. 

We each had a terrific meal, and I savored a delicious cup of coffee -- a rare combination.

Lagniappe:

Even the menu had some fun to offer.