Aug/091
Country Gentleman, Great Place for Dinner Plans!
Glass of Terra Blanca Syrah
by Craig Sutton
Wednesday was a special day in my life and I wanted a special location to have dinner with my wife. As you know, we have a large selection of restaurants, but not enough that are privately owned with a unique menu. Lots of chains. This is not want I wanted for this day.
Then I remembered! I posted a commercial for the Tri-City Regional Chamber a short time ago for there new Go Local Campaign, which featured Country Gentleman. While they had been open for breakfast and lunch, just a short time ago they created a dinner menu and I had heard some great things about it! I’m a fairly regular visitor on other shifts, as my office is not far away.
Steak Sauce - They went LOCAL!
Reservations weren’t required, which was good, this was a last minute decision with plans to visit the movie theater about an hour later. We arrived about 6:30, wasn’t a very big crowd at this point. I was also relieved that there was not a strong dress code enforced, in fact the gentleman who greeted us was wearing a rather colorful t-shirt under his jacket. Very friendly fellow.
We were taken to a table, candlelight and linen were available, no paper napkins here. Immediately rolls were served and a drink order was taken. I was delighted to find a favorite wine of mine, Terra Blanca Syrah, available here! Many of the local chains serve only inexpensive table wines. This was a treat indeed! My wife had a Mango Sunrise, a sweet concoction she enjoyed thoroughly.
Tenderloin
As we perused the menu, out came Steve Simmons, one of the establishments owners. He is a nice fellow and always takes some personal time to greet guests to answer questions or generate feedback. These are signs of a solid owner with his hands on the pulse of the business.
I asked Steve what he would recommend, mentioning the special day, and he suggested their Tenderloin (these pictures of food were our dinners). It sounded fantastic, so I took the bait. I had a side of scalloped potatoes and vegetables. My wife ordered the St. Louis Baby Ribs.
St. Louis Ribs
The meal was fantastic, the Tenderloin was juicy and practically fell off the bone (which Steve explained earlier had been left in to enhance the flavor) and the potatoes, as my wife put it, “obviously had the love of the chef” as they were in thin layers of Parmesan cheese and were the perfect match for this meal.
After dinner, we had a Cheesecake covered in Raspberry sauce, with a special note from the owners.
This was a great experience and they certainly will see me again! I hope they see you as well, we need to make sure these kind of places stay busy in this town. Oh yeah, almost forgot, they had us out with just enough time to get to the movie, what a treat indeed!
Jul/091
Mean Bean Espresso – Coffee with Attitiude in Kennewick
by Craig Sutton
Name- Mean Bean Espresso
Address- 5718 W Clearwater Ave, Kennewick, WA
Phone- 509-735-6803
Where did the name Mean Bean Espresso come from? Is your coffee angry?
No, it Means it’s ‘coffee with attitude‘! Like the descriptive, cool, sweet or bad. Mindy, our daughter, drew the logo and it is hard to draw an attitude. So Mean is portrayed as a little rascal, with a sling shot, straight shooting our “Coffee with Attitude” right at you.
With the wealth of espresso stands including your major chain competitors like Starbucks and McDonalds, what sets your company and its product apart? Why choose you?
First off McDonalds serves hamburgers, not espresso! There is an art to making espresso, the beans are roasted for certain tastes, then are finely ground and brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through the ground coffee. This makes a thicker consistency than drip or brewed coffee and crema, a reddish-brown foam that floats on the surface. Then we make espresso drinks with the shots. We use Longbottom organic coffee and teas! Our cups are recycled paper or PLA (corn starch based) plastic cups and straws. We strive to use the most organic and additive free ingredients we can find. Jason went to Barista School and he hopes to attend the Coffee fest in September. We try to be green conscience and responsible. It’s our God given duty. That in itself sets us apart from the competition… Social responsibility
How many locations do you own, and what made you choose this one?
We only own one now. We choose Kennewick because Jason lives there, great people, good location and lots of events going on in the area. Thoughts are in our heads of opening one in Eureka Montana, Kauai HI and Indiana.
What type of experience do you require for your employees?
Our employees have to pass the Jason test. That means they have to make the espresso just the way they are told every time, they need to be consistent. They have to treat our customers with a friendly attentive, coffee attitude. They have to drink and love coffee. Be clean freaks to satisfy the owners, me. And a willingness to go to school to learn more about the profession of Baristi.
Do you offer any unique products our readers should be aware of?
Our Longbottom Fair Trade organic coffee, our teas are also organic, Monin syrups organic, sugar free and regular. We use products that are as additive free and natural as we can find. We do serve completely organic espresso drinks for a small price upgrade. We have great smoothies; we serve Italian sodas and iced coffees. I know all espresso stands serve these drinks but I believe our prices are better.