BREWING COFFEE IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
_Analyzing the potential market—The supreme
coffee test—Freshly roasted and freshly
ground—Coffee-brewing conclusions—Coffee
urns—Rules for making coffee in hotels and
restaurants—General directions for improving coffee
service—How to operate a successful coffee shop,
with sample menus; hints on equipment and service._
The correct brewing of coffee in hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, soda
fountains, and in centralized “eating places” should interest every
dealer, because these are important avenues through which to promote an
increase in coffee consumption. Intelligent study of this subject is
certain to result in more business.
_Analyze the Potential Market_
It will pay any coffee man to make an analysis of the hotel and
restaurant trade in his community. Invariably there is room for
improvement or need for reform. Until recent years, it used to be said
that public eating places in the United States where good coffee might
be had were few and far between; yet many a hotel and restaurant has
built up a national reputation on its coffee. The old Astor House in
New York enjoyed such a reputation.
The American breakfast cup is a food beverage because of the milk or
cream and sugar additions, and more and more this same generous cup
serves again as a necessary part of the noonday and evening meals for
most people. Any hotel or restaurant man will lend a willing ear to
suggestions making for improvements in his coffee. This is a splendid
avenue of sales approach. Once an eating place gains a reputation for
surpassing coffee, its fortune is made. No one thing attracts and holds
patronage like good coffee.
In making an analysis of the coffee needs of any hotel or restaurant,
the starting point is to find out the class of patrons catered to and
suggest the best blend for that trade. If it is a popular eating place,
it may be foolish to suggest a high-priced blend, for the patrons may
have acquired a combination coffee and chicory taste. In the chapter
on Coffee Blending, we have already discussed the matter of suitable
blends for hotels and restaurants. It is necessary to add here only
that after the best blend for the money has been selected the emphasis
should be placed upon freshness and the most efficient grinding and
brewing.
Certain A-B-C’s of grinding and brewing should be gone over with the
customer, for the chances are that he is not a coffee specialist and
does not realize the importance of them.
_The Supreme Coffee Test_
The supreme test of the coffee served in any restaurant is this: Does
it inspire the customer with a desire for more? Does he come back for
a second cup, or go out of his way to patronize the place because he
knows the coffee is always uniformly good?
The coffee merchant should occupy the position of counsel and friend
to the hotel and restaurant man. He should visit him frequently and
make it his personal business to see that his instructions to the help
are being carried out to the letter. Employees will grow lax in the
essentials, and we know of no system that is fool proof.
_Freshly Roasted and Freshly Ground_
Having got the right blend, the coffee must be freshly roasted and
ground just before making. No hotel or restaurant can afford to use
stale coffee. The grinder must be inspected regularly; not only must
it be kept clean, but it needs to be watched to see that the fixed
grind does not vary. Many coffee dealers have a special hotel and
restaurant service to look after these matters, but the customer should
be urged to have several men in his employ that are familiar with all
requirements, so that in the absence of the coffee chef nothing can go
wrong. The use of a stale batch of coffee, a change in the grind, a
mistake in measuring, some apparently trivial error, is likely to make
for dissatisfaction in the cup, and the labor of years goes for naught.
The patron is displeased, and his custom likely to be lost forever.
Accuracy in measuring the amount of coffee to be brewed and the
quantity of water are also important. It will pay to check up
frequently on weights and measures, urns, leach bags, and other
utensils, and to stress the importance of cleanliness in every
operation.
_Coffee-Brewing Conclusions_
When we come to the actual making of the beverage, it is well to bear
in mind the following brewing conclusions arrived at after much careful
research by Professor Samuel C. Prescott of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology:
1. Coffee should be brewed with water at temperatures
between 185° F. and 200° F. Above this temperature
decompositions yielding bitter flavors take place, and
mask to some degree the characteristic and delicate true
coffee flavor.
2. The time of contact of the ground coffee and the water
should be brief. We have found the best results when this
time period did not exceed two to two and a half minutes.
With long contacts, woody flavors are extracted from
the bean, and bitter principles gradually pass into the
solution.
3. The coffee infusion should not come into contact
with metals, but should be brewed and kept in glazed
or vitrified containers, such as porcelain, glass, or
agateware. Even brief contacts with some metals yield
pronounced bitter, astringent, or metallic flavors, due
undoubtedly to the actual solution of and combination with
minute amounts of the metal.
4. Eighty to 85 percent of the total caffein is extracted
in a contact of two minutes when all the grains of coffee
are thoroughly wetted. As coffee is an oily seed, it is
necessary to have the water penetrate the superficial film
of oil in order to emulsify it and to gain access to the
other ingredients. Obviously, the small grains of a fairly
fine grind will yield more dissolved material in a unit of
time than if the coffee is coarsely ground. In the latter
case, more coffee must be used to secure the same strength
of infusion.
5. Freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee yields a
beverage far superior to that made from ground coffee
which has been exposed to the air. Our results seem to
indicate that under these conditions there is a loss of
the volatile ethereal flavors, and possibly an oxidation
of the oils bringing about an incipient rancidity.
_Coffee Urns_
Of course, the ideal way to prepare coffee in hotels and restaurants
would be to provide an individual service where the time of infusion
would be under strict control; but this is not practical where large
quantities of coffee “base” are required for quick service. To
approximate the filtration or drip method, which experience has proved
to be the best, resort must be had to coffee-making urns employing bags
or paper or to the various rapid coffee-making devices on the market.
The urn should have a liner of glazed earthenware or glass. If a cloth
bag is used, it must be kept clean and immersed in cold water to
prevent fouling when not in use.
The use of paper presents the advantage of a clean new filter for each
brew. Many hotels and restaurants now use a filter with a layer of
fiber paper which can be renewed for each batch of coffee. This filter
paper is put into a container which fits into the top of the urn. The
bottom of the container is perforated to permit the coffee to drip
through as it filters through the paper. Here are the rules prepared by
the manufacturer of one of these devices:
1. Put into the coffee urn all the boiling water required for the batch
of coffee.
2. Place the receptacle on top of this urn, with the coffee evenly
distributed over the filter, having the entire sheet well covered with
coffee.
3. Fasten the water spreader over the coffee to keep it from floating.
4. Transfer from the urn into the receptacle only as much boiled water
as will fill it.
It is contended that this method of making coffee is more convenient
and more sanitary, since it does away with the necessity of handling
and keeping the cloth filter bag clean. It also obviates the necessity
of repouring, because the water cannot get into the urn below until it
trickles through the ground coffee; whereas, with the drip-bag method
a large part of the water comes through the sides of the bag without
touching the coffee. Another advantage claimed for this method is that
the coffee grounds are always suspended above the water and cannot stew
in the brew.
The method which gives the best results for hotel and restaurant custom
of course depends upon the class of restaurant and that restaurant’s
type of trade; the kind of coffee used, the grind of the coffee, and
the degree of roasting; also, the factors of whether the restaurant’s
trade is relatively steady or spasmodic and the time of day at which it
is intended to serve the coffee are points for consideration. The type
of urn and coffee maker used are also determinative factors.
In general, where the usual type of urn is employed, the coffee being
made in a bag, and with coffee of the proper degree of fineness of
grind and the proper intensity of roast, and where the trade to whom
the coffee is to be dispensed is average, the following procedure may
be recommended:
Use two and a half gallons of boiling water to a pound of coffee,
and after placing the coffee in the urn sack pour the boiling water
through it, then repour the entire amount of liquid through the coffee
once. If coarser coffee is used or the water is not boiling, further
repouring is necessary. The urn bag and grounds should be removed from
the urn 20 to 30 minutes after the last repouring. Further contact of
the grounds with the coffee liquor is likely to promote extraction of
undesirable elements and consequent deterioration of the brew.
It is essential that the urn sack be clean, that the coffee be
fresh, the water be boiling, the water jacket of the urn be kept at
approximately 220° to 210° Fahr., and the interior of the urn be kept
religiously clean and sweet. Between brews, the urn bag should be
washed in cold water and kept immersed in cold water. Soap or any other
cleanser should not be used for cleaning the bag. If these instructions
be followed, a desirable brew of coffee is always sure to result. It is
not advisable to add egg, salt, butter, or vinegar, as seems to be the
tendency in some restaurants.
_How to Make Coffee in Hotels and Restaurants_
The Joint Coffee Trade Publicity Committee has provided the following
rules for making coffee in hotels and restaurants:
1. See that you have a plentiful supply of fresh boiling
water in hot-water urn.
2. See that the gage shows plenty of water in jacket of
coffee urn and that it is at a temperature of 170° to
180°. The water in the jacket should not boil, because too
much heat cooks the brewed coffee.
3. Look inside coffee urn to see that it is in proper
condition.
4. See that leaching bag is clean and sweet.
5. Put correct amount of dry coffee into leaching bag.
6. Note that water in the hot-water urn is boiling, not
only blowing off, but boiling hard, and that the water in
the gage is moving up and down.
7. Heat hot-water measure by rinsing with hot water.
8. As rapidly as possible draw the correct number of
measures of water and put through coffee; keep urn cover
down between measures of water, and be careful not to pour
water on fast enough so that it will overrun top of bag in
urn.
9. At once repour coffee. Repour entire making; i. e., if
water is five gallons, repour five gallons. If the coffee
is ground sufficiently fine, one repouring should be
enough. Repouring a second time to gain more “body” may
make the brew bitter and sacrifice delicacy of flavor.
10. Remove the leach bag with coffee grounds immediately
after coffee making has been finished.
11. Use only pure, unadulterated cream, 1½ ounces to each
cup.
12. New leach bags must be washed in cool water to
remove sizing before bags are put into use. Wash out
bags immediately after removal from the urn, and keep
them submerged in cool water when not in use. Renew bags
frequently.
13. Every 24 hours carefully clean inside of urns. Inspect
and clean faucets frequently.
Correct quantities of dry coffee to use per gallon:
1 gal. water, use 10 oz. coffee
2 ” ” ” 18 ” ”
3 ” ” ” 22½ ” ”
5 ” ” ” 37½ ” ”
8 ” ” ” 60 ” ”
Never use hot water from jacket of urn in making coffee.
Guess at nothing.
That in all cases the water must be freshly boiled, should go without
saying, yet it is just as well to dwell upon this point continually.
A good grade of cream should be served with the drink, and particular
care must be taken to have the service pots and the coffee cups warmed
before using.
Lists of manufacturers of coffee urns of all kinds, filters, coffee
pots, etc., will be found in the latest edition of _Ukers Tea & Coffee
Buyer’s Guide_.
_Waldorf and Ambassador Style_
The method of preparing coffee for individual service in the
Waldorf-Astoria, New York, which has been adopted by many first-class
hotels and restaurants that do not serve urn-made coffee exclusively,
is the French-drip plus careful attention to all the contributing
factors for making coffee in perfection, and is thus described by the
hotel’s steward:
A French-china drip coffee pot is used. It is kept in a
warm heater, and, when the coffee is ordered, this pot is
scalded with hot water. A level tablespoonful of coffee,
ground to about the consistency of granulated sugar, is
put into the upper and percolator part of the coffee pot.
Fresh-boiling water is then poured through the coffee and
allowed to percolate into the lower part of the pot. The
secret of success, according to our experience, lies in
having the coffee freshly ground, and the water as near
the boiling point as possible, all during the process.
For this reason, the coffee pot should be placed on a gas
stove or range. The quantity of coffee can be varied to
suit individual taste. We use about 10 percent more ground
coffee for after-dinner cups than we do for breakfast. Our
coffee is a mixture of Old Government Java and Bogota.
C. Scotty, chef at the Hotel Ambassador, New York, thus describes the
method of making coffee in that hostelry:
In the first place, it is essential that the coffee be of
the finest quality obtainable; secondly, better results
are obtained by using the French filterer, or coffee bag.
Twelve ounces of coffee to one gallon of water for
breakfast.
Sixteen ounces of coffee to one gallon of water for dinner.
Boiling water should be poured over the coffee, sifoned,
and put back several times. We do not allow the coffee
grounds to remain in the urn for more than 15 to 20
minutes at any time.
The coffee service at the best hotels is usually in silver pots and
pitchers, and includes the freshly made coffee, hot milk or cream
(sometimes both), and domino sugar.
_Coffee-Making Directions_
With a desire to be helpful to the proprietors of hotels and
restaurants wishing to improve their coffee service, the National
Coffee Roasters Association published the following directions:
Keep the urn, including faucets and connections,
scrupulously clean. Scour and scald daily. See that there
is no leak from the water jacket. Glazed earthenware makes
the best container for the brewed coffee. Avoid metal
contact so far as possible, and if metal equipment is in
touch with the coffee see that it is kept well tinned or
otherwise protected from corrosion.
Keep water in the water jacket very hot, but not boiling.
Have the urn _hot_ before brewing coffee.
The bag which holds the ground coffee should be of fine
enough mesh to hold the finest particles. Muddy or cloudy
coffee means that grounds are in solution with the
water—an inexcusable error.
Use muslin of medium weight. Don’t use cheese cloth. For
powdered coffee, use light canton flannel, “fuzzy” side in.
Wash out new bags thoroughly, in hot or cold water, before
using, to remove the starch sizing.
The bag should not be deep enough to hang in the brewed
coffee. The shape should be such as to allow a free
penetration of water through the grounds. Do not use a bag
too narrow or conical or one with sides reinforced with
any material resistant to free flow of water. The result
of letting water stand on the grounds is overdrawn coffee
and a bitter flavor.
Remove the bag immediately after the drip is finished, not
more than 10 or 15 minutes after the last pouring.
Never dry the drip bag. Rinse it thoroughly in cold water;
never in hot water, which _cooks in_ the coffee. Keep
bag when not in use submerged in clean, cold water, which
seals it from the air. Exposure to the air causes souring.
Use new bags frequently.
The water must be fresh; must be boiling, at the top
boiling point, before it is poured on the coffee. Water at
the highest possible temperature is necessary for the most
efficient extraction of flavor, aroma, and color. Coffee
brewed at 212° Fahr. is 100 percent efficient, compared
with only 50 percent efficient, if the water is as low as
150° Fahr.
Ground coffee loses strength rapidly, and should be kept
in a closed container as nearly air-tight as possible. It
is highly desirable that coffee be freshly ground as well
as freshly roasted.
There is no more important factor in good coffee making
than the right grind. On this subject, however, opinions
differ, and the restaurant manager who is interested
in serving a perfect brew will do well to make a few
experiments before deciding which degree of granulation to
adopt. A coarse grind, such as that favored in households
that stick to the old-fashioned boiling process and the
medium granulation used in percolators are not suited to
the restaurant urn. The principle of the drip method is to
extract strength and flavor by a quick contact of grounds
and boiling water. To get the best results, the bean must
be well opened.
Restaurant coffee, therefore, should be ground at least as
fine as granulated sugar. Many dealers recommend a grind
as fine as fine cornmeal, which shows a slight grit when
rubbed between thumb and finger. The grind should not
be so fine, however, as to mat and prevent the free
penetration of water.
Measure the water and measure or weigh the ground coffee
carefully. Don’t guess. When you have found the right
proportions, stick to them. The proportion of coffee is
governed by the strength and color of the brew desired
and by the grind used. Eight ounces of finely ground
coffee, finer than fine granulated sugar and as fine as
the cornmeal grind will produce one gallon of good, strong
coffee. With a coarser grind, use 10 to 12 ounces. Allow
about 20 percent for absorption of water by the grounds;
for instance, five gallons of brewed coffee require six
gallons of boiling water.
Bear in mind that a partly filled bag will drip more
quickly than one filled to its designed capacity. When
brewing in smaller quantities, therefore, use more coffee
in proportion to water.
Pour water at highest possible temperature over the
ground coffee in the drip bag. Never stir with a spoon or
otherwise. If the bag is correct in material and shape
and not filled with coffee over its designed capacity,
there will be no congestion or standing of the water on
the grounds. No agitation or mixing or cooking of water
and grounds together is necessary to perfect and complete
extraction.
Some authorities maintain that one pouring is enough, if
a very fine granulation is used and the water is at full
boiling point. They declare that any repouring of the
brewed liquor through the grounds extracts the bitter
elements of the bean and injures the delicate coffee
flavor. If the desired color and flavor do not result from
the first pouring, three remedies are open,—one, use
finer grind; two, use more coffee; three, repour.
It may be necessary to resort to repouring if a grind
coarser than fine cornmeal is used, because the bean may
not have been broken into particles fine enough to let the
water have access to all the cells in which are stored the
aromatic oils upon which flavor depends.
Fresh-brewed coffee is essential for best results. Brew
as near the time of service as humanly possible. Don’t
let the brew stand in the urn any longer than absolutely
necessary.
Serve coffee _hot_. Never allow the brew to get
chilled either in the urn or after it is drawn. A perfect
brew is frequently ruined by delayed service, cooling, and
thereby losing flavor. Reheating will not restore lost
flavor and aroma.
[Illustration: DAY AND NIGHT COFFEE ROOM OF THE RICE HOTEL, HOUSTON,
TEXAS]
_The Successful Coffee Shop_
Mrs. Ida C. Bailey Allen, writing on the Successful Coffee Shop, makes
the following suggestions on how to establish, equip, and conduct it:
The successful coffee shop must be more than a place in which to eat
and to enjoy a perfect cup of coffee: it must be a place ruled by
geniality and sociability, a pleasant place to spend a few moments of
leisure.
The coffee shop which furnishes perfect coffee and combines this rare
atmosphere with quick and up-to-date service, and those homelike
touches that irresistibly draw customers, is a profitable business
venture and a landmark in the community.
The success of the coffee shop depends largely upon the right location.
Exactly what this may be hinges upon the locality and the type of
patron. A coffee shop destined to cater to the needs of both men and
women in the shopping section of a city would necessarily differ from
a coffee shop in a village inn or on a good automobile road; yet both
might be proportionately successful.
In many cases, it will not be necessary to search for an entirely
new location for the coffee shop, for there is often waste space
in connection with a hotel or restaurant which can be used to good
advantage.
The large restaurant with rather formal service, desiring to make a
quick and speedy turnover, will find the institution of a small coffee
shop, with a direct entrance on the street, a good investment.
The hotel can easily make of the discarded barroom an excellent coffee
shop, using in many instances some of the original furnishings. This
will undoubtedly prove a very popular breakfast and luncheon room,
especially for the men guests.
The abandoned saloon, with its conspicuous street entrance, offers a
wonderful opening for a coffee shop; provided, the right atmosphere of
geniality and cordiality is maintained.
Many a wayside inn has held sacred for years an almost unused sitting
room, while hungry automobiles, longing for a bite to eat, are led
to a bare and unattractive dining room, where the “bite” is anything
but good; and yet, the unused sitting room, located near the front
entrance, could often be made into a most alluring little coffee shop,
at almost no expense.
Then there is the larger and more pretentious hotel, in which a coffee
shop can often be installed in a little-used part of the lobby, where
it is of easy access from the street.
In still other cases there are well-ventilated basement rooms which can
be utilized for this purpose. In fact, the coffee shop itself may be
worked up in various ways to suit the space that can be allotted to it,
as well as to meet the needs of the patron.
The three types of coffee shop which may be developed are self-service;
counter service, with waitress or restaurant service; or combination of
counter and waitress service.
_The Self-Service Method_
Obviously, when space as well as expense must be curtailed, the
self-service method will prove most practicable. When there is more
room, the counter method may be used, but when there is ample space,
the waitress or restaurant method will prove most popular, if the
service is speedy, and if, at the same time, the guests who have
leisure are not hurried.
The self-service coffee shop will succeed in a busy locality, where
the clientele consists largely of people of limited means and leisure,
both men and women. The counter service will be a success where the
clientele consists only of men, who desire to obtain a quick meal at
a moderate price. A man in a hurry depends more upon his coffee than
anything else on the menu. In fact, the smaller the shop and the more
limited the bill of fare, the greater the importance of coffee. The
difference in cost between a cup of good coffee and a cup of bad coffee
is so slight that no restaurant or lunch room can afford to serve the
latter, however low his prices and humble his establishment.
There is a great opportunity for the opening of the small coffee shop,
in any business or manufacturing locality, where men may get a cup
of coffee, a sandwich, a piece of pie, or some crullers in almost no
time at all. This idea has been very successfully carried out with
the installation of built-in stands, from which iced summer drinks
have been sold, but it should prove equally popular with coffee,—iced
coffee, coffee sodas, and hot coffee in the summer time, and hot coffee
and coffee sodas in the winter.
The initial outlay can be very small, the rental for such stands being
very reasonable. The dishes and knives, forks, and spoons may be of
moderately good quality, but durable; the greatest outlay being for the
coffee urn, a two-burner gas stove for the frying of eggs for fried-egg
sandwiches, and a small counter with or without stools. Needless
to say, the place should be spotlessly clean, an all-white effect
appealing to everyone.
Such a place is best handled by men, who should wear white. Menus are
not necessary, but it is a good plan to change the type of sandwiches
and the kind of pie from day to day, to avoid monotony. A fortune
awaits the man who can establish such places in a large city, in time
developing a chain which might extend over a large territory. This type
of coffee shop, properly run, means a good living to the person who has
foresight and business ability enough to put it through.
The backbone of a coffee shop is coffee—and still more coffee. It must
be a perfect beverage, the kind that leaves a glow of satisfaction and
invariably calls back the guest again and again. The coffee must be so
good and the service so excellent that men and women will not only drop
in, with reasonable regularity, at mealtime, but will avail themselves
of the quiet sociability of the place for morning conferences over the
coffee cups, and a mid-afternoon “bite” with coffee—hot or iced as the
season may suggest.
There is still another element entering into the type of coffee shop
to be inaugurated,—the help. In a large city, where this problem is
not so perplexing, the waitress type of service can be carried out
successfully; but, where waitresses are difficult to secure, it will be
necessary to use either the counter or the self-service method. Also,
when prices must be comparatively low, it will not be practicable to
use the waitress method, as this increases the overhead to such an
extent that the profits will be unduly decreased.
The coffee shop itself is such an adaptable sort of eating place that
it can be made equally attractive for both rich and poor,—just as
popular in a first-class hotel as it is when conducted rightly in a
factory. This is the reason that the locality, the type of help, and
the sort of service must be absolutely mapped out before the actual
gathering together of the equipment is considered.
_Details of the Menu_
As the equipment depends largely upon the menu that is to be provided,
the latter must be outlined in general before the equipment is
purchased. The menu should be of a suitable type to correspond with the
kind of coffee shop that is being opened, and must be made to fit the
probable needs and pocketbooks of the patrons.
The first item to be thought of in connection with the menu is
coffee, and ample provision must be made to serve it to the very best
advantage, for it is really the foundation of the entire enterprise.
The foods to be served must be of a nature that will combine well in a
meal with coffee.
In case a coffee shop is being opened for very simple service in any
locality, and if the amount of money that may be spent for equipment
is limited, it will be found most practicable to include largely cold
foods on the menu, merely making provision for the cookery of eggs in a
few simple ways, to accommodate breakfast patrons.
A simple menu begun in such a comparatively small way, backed up by
the right service and excellent coffee, will invariably result in
quick expansion into a larger business. Such a menu might include the
following dishes: Sandwiches, cold meats, salads, pastry and cake,
icecream, coffee.
The menu should be changed from week to week, no matter what type is
used, in order to give sufficient variety to encourage guests to come
over and over again. A suitable menu of this type for the fall and
winter season might include: Ham sandwiches, minced ham sandwiches,
sliced chicken sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, egg sandwiches,
egg salad sandwiches, club sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, pimento cream
cheese and lettuce sandwiches.
The salads should, as far as possible, be of a different nature from
the salad sandwiches, as so many guests will order a salad and a
sandwich, together with a pot of coffee. A suitable group of salads
would include: A fish salad, such as shrimp, lobster, or tuna fish;
egg salad, with Russian dressing or mayonnaise; lettuce and tomato
salad, with Roquefort dressing; chicken salad; potato salad; cold slaw,
occasionally varied with green peppers, chopped nuts, or pimentos; a
seasonable vegetable salad. If possible, hot, home-made Parker-house
rolls or little tea biscuits may be served with the salads. If it
is not feasible to keep these really hot, and if the bread is to be
included in the salad course, bread and butter sandwiches will prove
the most economical adjunct from the standpoint of both materials and
service.
The cold meats should include: Sliced ham, served with a little
chowchow, or other suitable relish, in an individual paper cup; cold
fried chicken or sliced chicken; cold tongue; and occasionally cold
roast lamb or roast beef.
It may sometimes be advisable, if there is a place to keep the roast
hot, to serve hot meat sandwiches occasionally, as roast beef, lamb, or
chicken sandwiches, with gravy, utilizing the remainder of the roast
for cold meat on the succeeding day.
To be at its best, a coffee shop should incorporate homy, rather than
exotic, cookery, to correspond with its warm, inviting, and simple
surroundings.
Who would not go a long way for a perfect piece of apple pie, with a
bit of rare-flavored cheese and a pot of perfect coffee? So, let the
pastries, again, be varied, in order to avoid monotony; but keep them
homelike.
Apple pie, pumpkin or squash pie, or sweet potato pie (in the South),
a lemon pie with a thick meringue, custard or well made coconut pie,
old-fashioned cream pie, the newer butter-scotch pie, together with
the full gamut of fruit pies, such as orange, huckleberry, blackberry,
rhubarb, pineapple, cranberry, raisin, and all the others, certainly
afford a wide choice. _But have them perfect!_ As to crullers and
coffee cake itself, they should be so good as to become specialties.
These will attract guests from miles around, for the inevitable pot of
coffee with these incomparable accompaniments.
Good home-made cookies should also be included. Old-fashioned ginger
drop cookies “with a raisin in the center,” and thick cream cookies
sprinkled with sugar before baking, will surely become famous. As to
old-fashioned ginger bread, served with good butter, cheese, or whipped
cream, it will be in favor winter or summer as a combination with
coffee.
The cakes, too, should be strictly home-made and very much of a
specialty. If there is but one kind, have it _good_. Nut cakes with
thick white icing, fudge cake with fudge frosting, layer spice cake
with a made cream filling, and rich marble cake offer a few good
suggestions. Keep the cake out of the ordinary: it’s sure to mean
“talk,” the best kind of advertising.
Regarding the icecream in a small coffee shop, one or two kinds will
be ample. Of course, coffee icecream will always be served. This can
be made into a variety of sundaes, such as marshmallow nut, coffee
sundae, coffee butter-scotch sundae, coffee caramel sundae, and coffee
maraschino sundae. A second cream would naturally be vanilla, which
might be served as a sundae with a delicious coffee sauce, coffee nut
sauce, or a maple sauce, with a topping of coffee whipped cream. In
other words, emphasize the coffee flavor: it’s the best stock in trade
that a coffee shop can have.
This menu will take care of the luncheon and supper trade, of the
mid-morning “bite,” and the afternoon and late evening “snack.” With
the addition of fresh fruit in season, ready-cooked cereals, such as
corn flakes, etc., toast, of boiled, poached, and scrambled eggs, and
marmalade and honey served in individual jars, the variety of foods
will be increased sufficiently to cover breakfast, even though the
serving equipment is limited. If space permits, the equipment may be
enlarged and the list may include pancakes with sirup, and blueberry
pancakes in season, as well as waffles. However, in cooking foods of
this type, great care must be taken to provide for proper ventilation.
If there is ample provision for the carrying off of cooking fumes,
bacon and ham may be served along with fried eggs and omelets.
_Basis for More Elaborate Service_
This simple skeleton menu may serve as a basis for the development
of one that is more elaborate and adapted to any of the three types
of coffee shops. To it may be added one or two soups, one of a clear
variety, such as consomme, tomato bouillon, clam bouillon, clear
vegetable soup, chicken soup with rice, etc., and a heavier soup, such
as cream of pea, cream of celery, oyster stew, or a chowder. If there
is ample provision for order cooking, steaks, chops, etc., may be
offered on a menu.
In any case, whether these are served or not, a certain number of
special substantial dishes should be included on the menu, the
selection depending on the clientele and the facilities for keeping the
specials hot. They should be decidedly substantial if men are the only
guests, but, when men and women both patronize the coffee shop, some
of the specials should be of rather dainty nature. If, for instance,
only two specials were to be run, and the catering is to both men
and women, a choice might be breaded veal cutlets with tomato sauce
and mashed potatoes, or chicken patties with peas. A group of staple
specials of a substantial nature might include broiled pork chops
with mashed potatoes and baked apples; stewed chicken with dumplings;
hot tongue with spinach and horse-radish sauce; beef cutlets with
spaghetti-Italian, etc.
Suitable dainty specials might be escalloped oysters with dressed
lettuce, veal loaf with buttered rice and brown gravy, chicken _à la_
king, eggs _au gratin_, welsh rabbit (made with milk and served on
toast), etc.
Any menu increased beyond this point must take on the characteristics
of a regulation restaurant, with perfect coffee as a background. In
this case, the equipment must of a necessity be quite elaborate, as
provision must be made for the preparation of a goodly number of dishes
to order, as well as of roasts, vegetables, etc.
The menu served in the famous coffee shops of England includes, besides
the usual staple sandwiches, salads, pastry, and coffee, all kinds of
egg dishes, cereals, fruits, toast, marmalade, honey, and hot breads
at breakfast. Both the noon and night specials are of heavy nature,
including roasts, steaks, chops; baked, French-fried, and boiled
potatoes; a special beefsteak pie _à la_ Dr. Johnson, or a veal and
ham pie; kidney, pigeon, or chicken pie. A snappy salad is always
provided, such as onion and pepper or tomato with Roquefort dressing,
and there are plenty of plain vegetables, such as buttered carrots,
fried onions, stewed marrow, etc.
The desserts would include deep-dish fruit tarts, cheese cake, and
always plum pudding, and a special, as a fruit dumpling, bread and
custard pudding, or something of like nature. Of all eating places, the
coffee shop should spell comfort, and there must be a sufficient number
of well-cooked simple foods to correspond with this purpose.
_The Kitchen Arrangements_
The small coffee shop of self-service type, or of the type that
combines self-service with a few tables, can be worked out successfully
with the aid of only a small kitchen, as there will be few foods cooked
to order and almost no last-minute preparation. But the coffee shop
serving a number of specials must have a comfortable kitchen, with
sufficient space in which to prepare the food, and a short-order range,
that is certainly not in full view of the patron, for the coffee shop
must present a restful atmosphere. It should not appear too new, too
glaring, or sanitary looking to a startling extent. As far as possible,
what one might term the machinery of cooking should be kept out of
sight.
In the kitchen will be needed an adequate range to burn the fuel best
obtainable in the locality, a short-order range, a work table of the
right height for the cook, a small room or a good-sized pantry for
the pastry-cooking equipment, and, in case a large amount of pastry
is being prepared, an adequate set of bake ovens should be installed.
There must be an icebox of the right size, with sections, accessible
to both cook and pastry cook. Dishes should be washed and stored near
the entrance to the dining room, so that when they are delivered to the
dish washer the carry will not be long, and so that they may be stored
where they are washed and dried, ready for service.
The time has gone by when it is desirable from the viewpoint of the
patron, as well as from the standard of good taste, to display large
quantities of food. Groups of foods, properly assembled in tightly
closed glass cases, may sometimes be used to good advantage when
counter service is employed. The actual food that is served, however,
will be obtained from another room. In case a barroom has been fitted
over into a coffee shop, the back bar may be used for such display, if
desired.
If the cafeteria method of service is adopted, there will be, of
course, no food prepared in the restaurant proper. In this case, the
equipment must include an adequate steam table and serving counter, on
which the food may be assembled.
The menu should be clearly displayed on the wall in such position that
the guests will not crowd in front of it and thereby upset the serving
arrangements.
The silver, trays, etc., as well as the foods, should be assembled in
their natural order of use; first, the trays and napkins, then the
silver, water, and water glasses, followed by soups, hot “specials,”
vegetables and meats, the breads, salads, desserts, and coffee.
It goes without saying that the coffee-making equipment should be the
best that can be obtained. “Best” does not always mean the most costly,
for adequate coffee-making equipment is always simple in design, so
that it may be kept clean, the absolute cleanliness of all utensils
used in the making being one of the fundamentals underlying the
preparation of perfect coffee.
Suitable urns, provided with leach or drip bags, may be obtained from
about $65 upward, according to size. Cup warmers should be provided.
The coffee itself should be served with cream, real cream, which should
be put in by the patron; not served ready mixed, as so many prefer
black coffee.
In some instances, it may be necessary, because of shortage of
space, to prepare some of the food in the dining room. In this case,
the equipment must be kept in perfect condition and the cook be
spotless—literally—from head to foot. An adequate gas or electric
griddle, gas or electric waffle iron, egg boiler, and well-scoured
aluminum cooking utensils are an absolute necessity. Sometimes it will
be necessary to install a short-order range in this room, as well. The
cook must also be taught to work quietly. Much of the noise in many
restaurants may be traced to the carelessness of the waitresses and
other employees in the handling of dishes and utensils.
_Serving the Food_
First of all, the service must be pleasant. There is no one thing—other
than perfect cooking itself—which brings a guest back over and over
again, more than a smile and a well-chosen word of greeting. In several
well-known restaurants, home economics graduates are employed to act as
hostesses. The guests are then seated by a well-trained head waitress,
who is quiet and efficient.
This idea could well be applied to the coffee shop, but the
professional hostess should not be ultrafashionable: rather,
middle-aged, comely, and wholesome in appearance. For waitresses,
choose comfortable, homy-looking women, and dress them in simple
uniforms of natural linen color, with white aprons.
In case cafeteria or counter-style service is used, the same natural
linen-color scheme for uniforms may be carried out. It must be kept
in mind that the person in charge of the cafeteria can often be a
very deft salesman as well, helping guests who are undecided as to
their choice of food to make a selection extremely profitable to the
restaurant and—if the food is as perfect as it ought to be—to the
individual. A good waitress can be trained to be as clever in this
line as a _maitre d’hotel_. It would well pay the proprietor to have a
little talk occasionally with his employees on salesmanship.
If the guests are seated at tables, they should be handed menus as
soon as they are settled. A glass of water, a napkin, and the silver
for each guest should then be put immediately upon the table by an
underwaitress. The guest then feels that he is getting immediate
attention, and his order can be taken as soon as possible by one of the
regular waitresses, a highly trained person, who, if relieved from the
burden of the water glasses, silver, replenishing of butter, water,
etc., can practically handle double the amount of usual trade.
In case of cafeteria service, no waitresses will be needed, except
women to gather up the soiled dishes from the tables as fast as they
accumulate. The crumbs should then be brushed off, but not on to the
floor, then the table should be wiped clean. Insufficient observation
of these two little items alone keeps many a fastidious guest from
eating in a cafeteria.
_Atmosphere of the Shop_
Coffee shops may be developed in appearance in two ways,—the very
up-to-date white porcelain and nickel, with its expensive and sanitary
equipment, or it may be made a place of atmosphere, of quiet and
restful appearance, by the proper utilization of decorations and
furnishings that one might term “seasoned looking.” At the same time,
the furnishings should be so simple that they may be kept spotlessly
clean.
There is no more attractive background for the coffee shop than the
old English type. Panels may extend from the ceiling to the floor, or
a high wainscot only may be used, topped by a plate rail with the wall
decorated in coffee color, from the plate rail to the ceiling. Well
chosen English prints may be hung on a plain background. Pieces of old
Wedgewood, dull copper pitchers, and platters in old willow design may
be on the plate rail. There should be a rack of “grandfather’s pipes,”
an old eight-day clock, and if possible a fireplace with a crane and a
fire in cool weather.
The curtains at the windows—which should be, if possible, of
the casement type—may be of some washable, rather dark, natural
linen-colored material, and plain, old-fashioned red geraniums should
be in the window boxes.
The tables should be bare save for a small center square of rather
dark, linen-colored material. The napkins should match. The chairs
should, of course, match the tables, and the floor should be finished
in a dark tone, to harmonize with the furniture.
Settles, if desired, may line the sides of the room, a table being put
before each settle, with two chairs on the opposite side, or stalls,
with tables accommodating four, may be used in part of the room, with
well-disposed tables and chairs to fill the remaining space.
As far as feasible, the entire equipment should savor of the
old-fashioned. China, of the English willow-ware pattern, may be
obtained anywhere. Silver of plain design should be used, and, if
possible, steel-bladed, horn-handled knives should be used with the
meat service.
Menus of a design to correspond with the decorations should be planned.
Nothing can be better than rough, dull-finished paper, of linen color,
with rough cut edges, and the printing in dark brown. In case a list
of the “specials” is not printed each day, it may be written or typed
on to the menu. The menu itself should be changed from time to time,
in order to make the standing dishes seasonable. It is a good plan to
include on the menu some short and interesting quotations about coffee
from well-known people. If a little care and thought are expended in
making the cards unique and interesting, guests will frequently ask for
them as souvenirs—an excellent advertisement.
If rent is not a big item, it will prove a good plan to have an
informal lounging and game room, opening out of the coffee shop. The
decorations should be of the same type as those in the shop itself.
Comfortable tables and chairs should be provided, and there should be
an abundance of games accessible, such as checkers, parchesi, chess,
and the like, as well as a table with current magazines, a low case of
interesting books of short stories, a desk with letterheads (featuring
the coffee shop) and, if there is ample room, a pool table.
Tables should bear menus, featuring coffee, and a few of the lighter
dishes that would naturally accompany it, for refreshments suitable
for afternoon and evening. Of course smoking should be allowed.
Whatever type of coffee shop may be chosen, a candy and cigar counter
should be stationed near the entrance door: not the ordinary candy
counter, but one featuring coffee candies, which are put up for sale in
little 10- and 15-cent coffee-colored bags, or which may be obtained
in larger quantity in coffee-colored boxes, bearing the trad-emark of
the coffee shop. The candies should be somewhat of an old-fashioned
type, as coffee butter-scotch, coffee molasses taffy, chocolate coffee
creams, coffee pralines, and so on. The bags, in nine cases out of 10,
will be emptied of their contents in the street or office, and each bag
that is thrown down will act as an advertisement of the coffee shop,
and each coffee-colored box tied with its coffee-colored ribbon will
serve as a reminder to the passerby, who sees it on its way home to the
wife or to sweet-heart, of the shop around the corner where there is
such delicious food, and where the internationally loved beverage may
be obtained in perfection.
[Illustration]