The White Rhino is situated in an older home in Cedar Hill. I am guessing the house was built in the 1930s – 40s… a bit of a transitional Arts and Crafts/ Atomic Age. The hardwood floors are warm welcoming and I could definitely see myself sitting here for hours, staring out the windows, drinking coffee and listening to the music…which is just the right blend of jazz/piano bar style.

The space is well laid out. They didn’t try to jam too many tables in but left lots of room for privacy and traffic flow.  There is a large t.v.  over the fireplace (sadly the fireplace doesn’t work) that is currently silently playing scenes from Mr. Bean’s Holiday.  You can also choose to sit out on the large, covered front patio and watch the world go by…or at least the traffic.

Mike is gonna laugh at me but…The espresso is nutty and rich…and even chocolatey. Nice shiny surface, touch of acidity. I like it. I like to get espressos because you just can’t hide behind them – the flavor is either there or it isn’t. Kudos to White Rhino. Flavor was definitely in the house.

The Sebastian is what  I am extremely impressed with. Oh my gosh. I am trying to describe the amazing party going on in this drink. Raspberry, white chocolate, whipped cream…do I detect a bit of fleur de sel? Something a little salty.  Just a hint..and served breve with whipped cream and caramel. Oh my. Oddly this is not an extremely sweet drink. It is sweet but the salt is a perfect compliment…(later : Amazingly when I asked they said no salt was added. Very odd..still very good)

The plain coffee, White Rhino Blend, is a full city roast. I realize this is a necessity because more people like it, while I prefer the dark, mysterious, emo nuances of a really dark Italian Roast. However, for a full city roast it was good. Smooth, sparkly, and slightly citrus.

White Rhino has cakes, coffee cakes, and pie available. I asked where they came from and was told that Costco was the supplier. They have tried local suppliers and not had good results but the Costco items  were good, sold well, and consistent.  I give them kudos for honesty – although I would have loved to hear that they were using someone local.

Their roaster is, however, local and I was glad to hear it.  White Rhino offers a variety of coffee beans for sale as well. Oh, and they DO have real cups. You know I am freaky about using cardboard/styrofoam/other ickiness.

It was not crowded but there did seem to be a steady stream of customers. The baristas handled my many interruptions and questions very well, and never rolled their eyes at me once. Bravo!  I think that by 12:15 they had decided I had moved in, however.

I would have liked better lighting because of images but the lighting is just right for a calm, peaceful atmosphere.  If you live in the South Dallas area: Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Midlothian, Lancaster, De Soto, Grand Prairie then White Rhino is a nice INDY change from the corporate chaos of you know who. Worth the drive.  I would have liked to have gotten an interview but they never returned my emails.

Score? On a Marye scale of 1 to 5 this coffee shop gets a 4.5 . The coffee is wonderful, I was was comfortable there, and anyone who likes Mr. Bean is my kind of people. Nice job, guys.

Address:
230 W. Beltline Road, Cedar Hill Texas

Web: White Rhino Coffee

Post from: Kettle and Cup

The Blue Cow coffee shop is in the lobby of the library. It is large and sunny and very comfortable. The colors are warm and welcoming; browns, golds, and yellows. It s sort of a Texas Meets Italia decor.

You walk in to the lobby area and are immediately in the large, spacious coffee shop. The aroma is heavenly, as you can imagine. Coffee and books? Yes please!

Because of wifi spillover from the library you can even pick up a wifi signal. Now, what I loved about this place is that you can bring your coffee mug and they will mark your name on it and hang it on your own special hook on the wall.

Downside? If you don’t know to bring your own cup you are stuck with Styrofoam. Ewww.

So, the baristas are friendly, and knowledgeable. They are not the fastest on the planet but I am usually not in a hurry.  There are a number of interesting things on the menu, it will take me months to try them all. The lattes are very good, served extremely hot. I bemoan the loss of whipped cream that I always had added at the other place but..my thighs are thankful.

I had a John Wayne, which is caramel, vanilla, and 2 shots of espresso. It was quite good. Marc had the Caramel Macchiato which he liked as well.

I was fascinated by the idea of a Dr. Pepper Chocolate Chip Cookie and so we ordered two. Incredibly disappointing, the cookie was dry bland, and not very appetizing with big clumps of half melted white chocolate on it. A bit too much baking soda in the mix. Still..I loved the idea and plan to create my own version on Baking Delights soon.

Next time I plan on trying the stuffed pretzels.

Blue Cow is growing and has plans to open in other cities both in Texas and around the country.

Here’s how is stacked up:

Good

• Keeping a cup for me (love it!)
• Coffee is excellent
• Decor
• Location
• Friendly
• Comfortable
• WiFi
• Interesting selection of menu items.

Not Good

• The cookie is a waste of ingredients. They should rework the recipe because it is not working now.
• If you are in a hurry call or text in your order or you are screwed.
• Acoustics from the large lobby, tile floors, etc. means that everything is LOUD. When the blender was on Marc couldn’t hear me talk.
• Because of where it is located the parking is not real convenient. Marc is disabled and we had to walk much longer ways than we should have. I was glad he was out of the wheel chair.
• Coffee Mate was prominently displayed on the counter but not real cream. Marc said they probably would have had it if I had asked but I don’t think I should have to ask. Yes. I have issues.
• Too much throwaway stuff. Would like to see them lose all the throw away, plastic forks, etc. and replace it with the real thing.
• I don’t think the coffee is organic or fair trade.

Should you go? Yeah. You should. I am thinking about moving my office there.

images: maryeaudet

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Several years ago Marc and I met a young man in a coffee shop. He was on fire to join the military and couldn’t wait until he was 18 and could do so. He talked to us a lot about it, knowing that Marc and I had been military. His face lit up, his eyes shone, and he was animated.

There was only one problem. Mama.  Mama didn’t want Sonny-Boy to join the military. She couldn’t bear the thought of him in danger, away from home…and so she constantly told him why he couldn’t, shouldn’t go off to boot camp.

Every month or so he would tell us how he was getting ready to go in…only it never happened. A few days ago I happened to see him, now in his 20s, in another coffee shop. No talk of the military. No animation. His eyes were dull, his face was without expression.

Moms (and dads!) kids need to be who they are. They need to grow and mature and eventually move away and start their own lives, make their own mistakes, and dream their own dreams. We pour into them to prepare them to be adults.

This mom may feel that she has spared her son from the danger and possible death of the military but at the same time she has effectively killed him herself. His life will not ever be what it could have been..He will be full of the what ifs….and the sad thing is…if he had a destiny to fulfill? He is settling for mediocrity now. Minimum wage. Mediocre job. Average life. Ho Hum.

I hope and pray he breaks out. It is heart-rending to have children grow up and leave home…I know from experience. And having a son in the military who has been in Iraq twice, lives in Japan  until 2013 AND hasn’t been home since June 08? I understand. I do.

But I raised him to be his own person, and I am proud of the man he is. It is just not right for me to stand in the way of someone else’s dreams. It is criminal.

Don’t really know why I am writing this. The young man haunts me, I suppose, because I am so sad for him. I grew up with a dad whose cheer for me was “Go for it!”…I have a husband and family that say “Go for it!” and to have those things taken away at such a young age ..just sad.

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

What I liked:

• First of all it is situated in the lobby of the library. I love that as you know. I think it is brilliant.
• The decor is great.
• Seating is comfortable.
• They serve a variety of luncheon and snack items that seem unique.
• The coffee is good. Not perfect. Not great. But as good or better than Starbucks.
• The barista is helpful and friendly.
• Nice selection of drinks.
• You can bring your own cup and they will keep it for you. I LOVE that idea.

What I didn’t like:

• No ceramic cups available unless you have your own.
• Non-dairy creamer displayed on counter, I think you can probably get half and half but you would need to ask.
• Too hard to find. There is no way to really know it is there unless you are going to the library.

I got a caramel macchiato and Marc got something called a John Wayne. He had no choice in the matter, I ordered it for him. :/ It was good. I can’t remember what was in it though. The most unique item I saw was a Dr. Pepper Chocolate Chip cookie, which I will try to replicate on Baking Delights soon. Anyway, I am going to do a real review tomorrow..If you are in the Duncanville, De Soto, Cedar Hill, Lancaster area (Texas) you should give this a try!

image:Marye Audet

Post from: Kettle and Cup

First of all, can you steal WIFI? I mean, the coffee shop that offers it for customers is paying for it regardless, as far as I know. They don’t pay per customer. At what point should a person be considered to be stealing WIFI?

At the Panera where we live you can sit in there all day refilling your coffee and using the WIFI. I haven’t never done that but I could just move down there and use it as an office if I wanted to. It seems to me that it would be really unfair but they advertise unlimited coffee refills and free WIFI, so…technically I could.

The woman in the article was a regular customer but hadn’t bought anything that day. She says she ducked in to check something…the store manager says she was there over an hour before he approached her ab0ut purchasing something. Should the police really have been called or was that a waste of taxpayer’s time and money?

What if she sat in the parking lot and pulled WIFI from there? Would it still be stealing?

Some issues of modern times have caused questions that are hard to answer. I mean, fifty years ago you went in a coffee shop, grabbed coffee and pie, ate it and then went on about your day. It was called a break.

Today, with laptops and WIFI we can literally work round the clock. Breaks are working breaks. I would know this because I have taken my laptop to the dinner table when I was trying to meet deadlines.

Anyway, I don’t want to rabbit trail on that. I am just wondering if it was the right thing for the manager to do (calling the police) or if it was just one of those issues he should have asked her to leave and let it go.  Maybe refused to serve her in the future if he felt that strongly about it?

What do you think?

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

The library will contribute 10,000 dollars to get the coffee shop up and running and then the coffee shop with pay  rent every month. They will carry pastries, cookies and various coffee drinks.

Now, I ask you, how cool is that? I love libraries. Many times in my life I have used the library in the various places we have lived as a refuge. A place to enjoy quiet, the smell of the books, and recharge my spirit. The coolest library ever was the one near us in West Windsor New Jersey back in the late 1960s. We lived in a new, upscale housing development in the midst of fields and countryside. The library was about 3 miles away but I was allowed to ride my bike there because my mom could watch me the whole way thanks to the fields.

The library was old, I want to say it was in an old house but my memory may be foggy on that. The children’s section was upstairs and there were plenty of nooks and crannies to curl up and read a good book in. It was at this library that I discovered Edgar Eager’s books, Obscure writings by Louisa May Alcott, and other books that continue to by my favorites to this day. Books that I have shared with my children…books that my daughter shares with my grandchildren.

The idea of being able to go to the library, check out a few books and enjoy a latte or an espresso intrigues me. I think it is brilliant. Kudos to Fargo and all involved for thinking outside the government subsidy box.

image:SXC

Post from: Kettle and Cup

When you think of the National register of Historic places you think of Independence Hall, Plimouth Plantation, The cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born….or at least I do.  Places that are historically significant in some way should be on there!

Right?

Well, the Lake McDonald Lodge Coffee Shop  has been added to that list of important places.  Built in 1965 it is part of Lake McDonald Lodge at Glacier National Park.

First of all…I think it is cool but I am not sure that i feel like 1965 is a particularly historically significant year.  I started kindergarten….I learned to tie my shoes…I think I was in my cousin’s wedding as a flower girl (or was that ‘63?).

Surely something that is five years youger than I am cannot be historially significant? Please?

The lodge is beautiful, built in a Swiss chalet style.  You can see images here.

I wouldn’t mind drinking coffee there….for the rest of my life…

image:morguefile

Post from: Kettle and Cup

I miss coffee shops.

I am not talking about places where you go to have something that vaguely resembles coffee but is more like an expensive dessert in a French restaurant…I am talking about coffee shops.  The place that you went to find out what the winter would be like, who had had a baby, whose cows had gotten out, and what the price of hay was likely to be next spring.

Coffee shops.

They served donuts and coffee, eggs and toast and coffee and even biscuits, gravy, and coffee in the morning starting at about 5 a.m.  In the afternoon you could count on them to have a good, thick slice of pie to serve you with your…coffee.

The coffee itself was wretched.  Three glass pots with scorched coffee sitting on a Bunn Commercial coffee pot provided all the caffeine anyone could want.  Because it was never about the coffee anyway.  It was about the people.

I am pensive tonight I suppose.  Too many hormones, not enough coffee, too much stress…your choice.  But I think what we need is a good, old fashioned coffee shop.

You go into coffee bars now and people don’t interact.  They work on their laptops while sipping a latte.  They read books, talk on cell phones, or stare out windows but they don’t connect with anyone else in the shop.

We all talk about simplicity…getting back a simpler time but we will never do it.  We value our sopisticated taste buds, our elegant afternoon teas, our creamy sweet lattes.  Those things have no place in a time when a percolater and an open fire produced a very drinkable cup.

We have turned into tea snobs, coffee snobs, and food snobs…to the point that a couple of years ago an important restaurant started serving grilled cheese sandwiches on white bread, and cream of tomato soup…and it was an instant hit..a gourmet delight.  But you know, truckstops all over the US have been serving that same lunch for years…some how it just tastes better if we pay more for it.

True simplicity requires that we remember how to enjoy simple things, unadorned and easily obtainable.

And that we enjoy the company more than the coffee.

image: morguefile

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Leaving the office for a coffee meeting, good management skills or a waste of time?

Image:Morguefile 

O.k..you guys know that even though Starbucks is not my favorite coffee I do spend a lot of time there because I live in a coffee- shop wasteland, where there may be four Starbucks in a quarter mile radius…and nothing else.

So, if I want to get away to think, or to read, or to talk to Marc or my friend Juanita, I head for…Starbucks.

But the thing is so does everyone else around here and there-in lies the absolute wicked cool-ness of the Starbucks experience.  Listening in on other peoples chats.

What I have noticed is that there is a manager, or what seems to be a manager, that takes various employees to Starbucks for their reviews, meetings, and state of the store chats.  I have listened in on several of his meetings and I have come to the conclusion that this guy is brilliant.

You see, he doesn’t take them there to fire them.  Nope.  He builds them up, tells them what they are doing right, and gives them the opportunity to talk to him about what is going on in the company from their perspective.  Did I say this guy was brilliant?  In that meeting, that very companionable, relaxed meeting this man builds his company, creates strong employee relations, and probably saves himself a bit of headache.  All for 3.50 or so for a coffee.

I think it is the way to go.  Lingering over a cup of coffee is relaxing.  No one is getting drunk and asking the barista to sit on his lap, and being out of the office is non- threatening.

If you are a manager, or a business owner, you might think about it.

And hey, if you are all ready doing  this, or you are part of a company that is, comment and let me know what you think…Is it a great idea or a money waster?

Post from: Kettle and Cup