Deviant Craft Coffee & Donuts - Bryce Bishop

 Deviant Craft Coffee & Donuts - Bryce Bishop

Mystic CT

        I had a wonderful experience visiting this wonderful Cafe in April. I got to explore this lovely place just after a visit to the Mystic Aquarium. If you are ever in the area and would like to sit down and enjoy a very reasonably priced coffee with a very unique and tasteful donut, I couldn't recommend this place enough.

            With only a five minute walk from the aquarium entrance, you will stumble upon a building that is shown above. The atmosphere inside is wonderful, as even when it gets very busy the people inside are a delight and take pride in each cup of coffee and donut they craft and serve. 

 

            The food and coffee that I ordered was just delicious, and I definitely recommend their cherry cream donut shown on the right image. If you are ever in the Mystic Village area, please stop in to this great Cafe. I will definitely be making this a regular stop when I am visiting that town with my girlfriend and her family.

Nighthawks: Third Placeless

via GIPHY

I might have learned of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper from the board game Masterpiece. This game involved auctioning works of art, and was mildly educational since the back of each game card included at least the title and author. Each edition of the game featured paintings from.a different real museum, and the 1976 edition included only works from the Art Institute of Chicago. I knew nothing about that museum that begins Route 66, nor about the college housed inside its walls, nor that my own child would eventually be educated as an artist at that college!

Wherever I first saw the image of the Nighthawks, I know where I was when I first saw the original painting. It was part of a 2007 Edward Hopper exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I am pretty certain that something else had drawn us to the exhibit, because when I saw this on the wall, I was stopped in my tracks. And then I was drawn to it. Drawn into it. I knew not to get close enough to set off the electronic alarm, but I think I did get close enough to draw the attention of a human guard. I was mesmerized. It measures 33-1/8 by 60 inches -- large for a painting, but not as large as I remember it. I felt as if I could lean against the glass, and somehow push through it.

I never noticed, as the AIC notes point out, that the Hopper deliberately avoided any reference to an entrance. This was part of Hopper's genius in drawing the viewer into the scene, while excluding us from it. Hopper also populated the café with four individuals who were essentially alone together in this space. Years later, Ray Oldenburg and other social critics would include cafés as typical of what he called a "third place" -- neither home nor work.

Hopper's original nighthawks do not exhibit the conviviality that Oldenburg and others typically associate with those third places, but they are drawn to a place that is optional. Those on the far side of counter have no obligation -- familial, financial, or otherwise -- to be there. Engagement with other visitors is also optional, and in Hopper's glimpse it is eschewed. But clearly, it is what the visitor in the GIF above craves. I do not know when this parody was created, but it certainly resonates with the current company-craving gestalt of a world in various stages of quarantine.

NOTE: Strange as this will seem to some readers, I use "the visitor in the GIF" because it only slowly occurred to me that this is John Travolta, in a scene from Pulp Fiction. In my defense, I saw that movie only once, a very long time ago. He looks confused, and in fact this is a popular meme known simply as Confused Travolta. Thanks to students in my Spring 2020 seminar Secret Life of Coffee for helping me figure this out. During a Zoom meeting, of course.

Lagniappe

I post this parody because of the geographies it so deftly brings to mind -- the geographies of coffee shops and community in more ordinary times. I post it for the benefit of my coffee students, who mainly study where coffee comes from, but who also analyze the places it goes to.

The rest of the posts in this blog relate to cafés that were -- by definition -- open when my students or I went to visit them. In late March and April of almost every year since 2007, students have told me and each other about the third places" they have visited in their hometowns or far away.

They have tried to figure out what made them successful (which they had to be to some extent, to be open when a well-financed franchise is never more than a mile or so away) and how they fit into their neighborhoods.

Perhaps my first encounter with the original painting captivated me so deeply because it was within a couple months of the first dozen or so of these student presentations. I have enjoyed hundreds of them since then -- including reviews of cafés that are since defunct.

This spring, my students have a different assignment: they are writing about cafés elsewhere (each has been assigned a state outside of New England), because their research perforce does not include. site visit. They will be learning about the cafes remotely -- as will students in my Coffee Week summer class if we are able to offer it. In many cases, the ways that the cafés find a new role in their communities -- with some combination of curbside pickup, delivery, charitable work or virtual gathering -- will be an important part of the story they tell.

Inauguration 2021 Update 

Inevitably ... 

And Campaign 2024 Update 

(With apologies for reposting an image of the most over-exposed person of our times.) 

During the 2024 campaign for election to the office of President of the United States, a certain former occupant became a little desperate and began exaggerating even more than usual about the number of people supporting his campaign and attending his events. 

He had the support of "hundreds of governors" out of a possible 50. Crowds at his rallies were 10, 20, or even 30 times the size of those attending the events of his rivals -- as if arenas that could hold a half million "fans" even exist. 

All of this led to some meming, and one result is a variation on Nighthawks that I call Nighthawk. As with all such rapidly-spreading imagery, I do not know the artist who deserves the credit. 

Coffee Exchange | Providence, RI

Coffee Exchange

Coffee Exchange, a coffee shop located just outside of
downtown Providence, has a welcoming and warm curb appeal.
The shop immediately draws your attention, with its charm and
unique coffee menu. Coffee Exchange has been in operation for
over 30 years, and continues to expand and thrive in the greater
Providence area. This shop appeals to different coffee lover's
preferences. At the counter, you face an array of coffee offerings,
ranging from a simple cup of Brazilian coffee, to an exceptional
flavored latte.

Coffee Exchange is dedicated to serving organic coffee, while practicing

fair-trade when purchasing their coffees. You can find coffee originating from various nations in Africa, Central, and Latin America. Coffee Exchange retails their coffee, so you too can be a part of fair trade coffee. The shop showcases their coffees in a container that allows you to view each coffee and has a short write-up of each coffee's story. Here, you are able to purchase any one of their coffees.

As I sit and enjoy my cup of Nicaraguan coffee, I observe a wide range of people sitting, chatting, and doing work, while sipping on their favorite Coffee Exchange beverage. These people range in age from mid-30's and older. Groups and single individuals all occupy the seats in the shop. Some are here to catch up with friends, while others are here to finish work. I visited Coffee Exchange on a Tuesday at 5:00 PM, and the volume of customers was high. Nearly every seat was taken. On top of eat-in customers, there were several take-out customers as well. Despite the Dunkin Donuts close-by, this independent shop is able to maintain their customers and provide a unique coffee experience, one coffee chain corporations cannot provide. Coffee Exchange further promotes organic and fair-trade by offering a variety of literature that you can read and learn about fair-trade, organic coffee, and other elements of coffee production, such as the Roya disease. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Coffee Exchange; the helpful staff, wide variety of coffee options, and their contributions to fair-trade all make this shop unique and well worth the trip. I plan to re-visit Coffee Exchange the next time I am in Providence.                                                                                                                                                                                                     -William Wright 

207 Wickenden Street, Providence, RI 

(401) 273 1198

 

Über Café

is located at 32 Hastings Street #101, Mendon, MA 01756—

just 15 minutes from Massachusetts’ Route 495.

Über Café can be found at the left entrance of Hood Plaza, a small strip mall with a few other local businesses.

Über Café is open:

Monday—Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sunday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

They had a fairly welcoming atmosphere with local art hung up on the walls, warm neutral tones painted throughout, and a hand-drawn menu.  

The café sold coffee roasted at the local Red Barn Coffee Roasters in Hopkinton, MA. The arabica coffee beans used at Über Café are USDA Organic and Fair Trade Certified.

They offered many styles of coffee along with some specialty teas.  They also offered bagels, breakfast sandwiches, salads, wraps, pastries, and soups.  I tried the breakfast blend coffee, black, as well as the peaches and ginger tea and found that both were fairly good.  My Dad tried the latté and my Mom tried a breakfast sandwich and both of them said the enjoyed what they ordered.

 

I went to the café around 2 p.m. on a Sunday so apart from my parents and me, the café wasn't seeing much business.  While I was there, I saw one older man working and reading the newspaper as well as a younger couple that stopped in for a sit down drink.  When I asked the workers about the café, they informed me that Saturday s are one of their busiest days, with younger college and high school students that stop for a sit down meal or coffee. The morning rush during weekdays will bring the café many customers who prefer ordering to-go over the drive-thru at the Dunkin' Donuts that is under 0.2 miles and less than a minute away.

Über Café equally supports the locals as much as the locals support their business.  Along with using locally roasted coffee, Über Café has a bulletin board full of flyers from local businesses and flyers for a local music artist that performs at the café.  They also sell Red Barn Coffee beans and Jelly from a local producer.

Overall I enjoyed my experience at Über Café and would recommend it to a local, but I would not necessarily recommend going on a trip to visit the shop.  Though it supports local business and is fairly welcoming, it was not overly unique and does not have much in the area that I would consider going there worth the drive.  

If you happen to be in the area, take a stop by Über Café or just visit the website.