Archives for September 2008

Yep, we are still watching the Presidential debate tonight at Tazza D’Oro – 9 pm. I hear it’s still a go, but at the very least we could work up some good discussion. A good friend of Tazza D’Oro, Eric, who owns Pittsburgh Custom Home Theater, offered to bring and install one of his big, flat panel TVs.  How very rad is that? This is what I call helping the cause. (BTW, Greg is the guy with all the awesome gadgets, gear and screens – love him!)

Show up, bring your own mind, listen carefully, look around the room, look at your community, look at the issues and not the distractions and then ….

I suspect I will be in the kitchen practicing deep breathing or racing by bike up and down Highland Ave! As always, we will be serving our amazing coffee but NO Kool Aid. Jim, you bringin any Grappa?

If you have been following our blog, back in February I wrote the post “Having a connection to the things we eat and drink“. As I re-read the post I don’t think I could say it any better, except seven months later, I can honestly say that at least 80% of what you now buy at Tazza D’Oro is either local or, as in the case of our coffee, there is a direct relationship/knowledge of where the beans come from. It would be an amazing goal to reach 100%, but unfortunately that is probably not possible (I think!). BTW, I think we are also one of the largest CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) sites in the city for Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance – so I know there are a lot of locavores passing through Tazza D’Oro.

September 21st through the 27th Southwestern Pennsylvania will celebrate Local Food Week. On September 23rd from 10 am to 12 noon, please stop in Tazza D’Oro to meet Nicholas Yon from Turner Dairy and Mary Stoner, a local dairy farmer. You will have the chance to see pictures of the farm and talk with Nicholas and Mary about their commitment to provide us with exceptional milk and dairy products. For me it’s always a great experience to meet and connect with the folks who produce what I consume and to understand that I make a powerful statement everyday by where and how I spend my dollar!

Beyond food and coffee we are also very committed to purchasing local services from other small, independent businesses like Bob the plumber, Ilya our web guru, Erin, Eric and Mica the painters, Roger, our fixer guy, bikes from the local shops, and countless other folks who help keep Tazza D’Oro and me running.

List of our partners and products:

Coffee – Batdorf and Bronson

Milk and Dairy – Turner Dairy

Veggies, Produce, Fruit, Beef, Eggs, Honey – Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance

Poultry: JL Kennedy Farms

Biscotti – La Peri Dolci

Bread and Pastry – Enrico’s Bakery

Bagels – Stagnos Bakery

Bakery Supply – Stover and Co

PASA (PA Assoc for Sustainable Agriculture) – Business Member

Beginning Saturday, September 13th [Read more…] about Tazza D’Oro’s New Hours of Operation

Alright, you guys have broken me down with countless emails, phone calls, stopping me on the street, on my bike, in my car and on and on. [Read more…] about Serving REAL Coffee – Not Kool Aid!

WYEP has once again invited Tazza D’Oro back to their annual Rock the Block Party – Saturday, Sept 6th from 8 pm to 12 am.  Yea, we accepted and are totally excited. Our Rock the Block debut last year was awesome – we ran into lots of our customers and had a chance to introduce many new people to our coffee and homemade Italian sweets.  Like last year, we will also have the rare chance to hang with several of our favorite business owners and friends from – Point Brugge, Gypsy Cafe, Dozen Bake Shop, Harris Grill, Penn Brewery and  big Burrito.

Come and hear of some of the best music of the season, taste the food from outstanding, local Pittsburgh restaurants, have some brew and stop to see us for some really rad coffee and treats!

We also hear that Amelia’s Rock debut from last year shows up on the WYEP web site and WYEP’s MySpace page. Yep, it was only a matter of time -drinking coffee then rockin the block! I’m smiling.