The premise is real simple. I work for a mortgage company in the 2900 block of Belmont Avenue in Chicago. The neighborhood is called Avondale. When real estate was booming in 2005 and 2006, we started to get a few store fronts and condos. Among them was MoJoe's Hothouse, pictured above (picture borrowed).
Why does this matter, you ask? My daily routine has me craving a cup of coffee at roughly two every afternoon (not so unlike tea time in other places). Add to that the fact that I am a bit of a self-styled coffee snob. I know something about coffee beans, care how coffee gets roasted and get apoplectic if it doesn't taste good, make that real good. Don't get me wrong, I need my fix and have been known to drink crap coffee too, but that is not what I want to do.
So before the MoJoe's demise (and in another post, I will be writing lovingly about MoJoe's, its former owner Mike Foster and the simple-pleasure joy the place brought me -- old school coffeehouse conversation amoung other things), I would get the 2:00 craving, walk downstairs and out the front door of my office, make a left, cross Belmont and stroll East to MoJoe's for my coffee. When MoJoe's closed a new player arose, several blocks west of our office, a local print shop that tried it's hand at coffee. There's a story there too, but not today.
This blog will chronicle my search for a cup of coffee within proximity to my office. Mostly it will involve driving, because walking for coffee is gone in this neighborhood. And, it will include my friend (and work pal, she sits right by me), Maria, who regularly accompanies me to get coffee. I will share words and photos about the places where I get my afternoon coffee. I hope to offer a few laughs and maybe even recommend THE place for a cup of coffee. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
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