Eugene's coffee scene
lacks personality, style
Going out on the town must in
clude coffee. And not just any cup of
joe. My coffee must have its own
personality. It should be served to
me in a high-quality mug. And I
should be allowed to enjoy it until
the wee hours of the morning.
Unfortunately, Eugene has not
provided me with this coffee experi
ence. This town has a serious lack of
independently owned cute coffee
houses where 1 can soak in a unique
atmosphere, relax with friends and
enjoy one-of-a-kind delicacies. Most
Eugene coffeehouses have bland
walls and lighting, menus posted on
the wall above the counter, bever
ages that come in paper cups and/or
a 9 p.m. closing time. No wonder
students spend weekend nights get
ting wasted at house parties.
There is one coffeehouse in Port
land that should be
the model __
for
java dens, and that is The Pied Cow
Coffeehouse. Pied Cow (as regulars
call it) has class that can smack any
chain coffee company in the face
The first winning aspect of Pied Cow
Natasha Chilingerian
Nat goes to town
is the dream-like ambiance. You walk
into the antique house to see two dimly
lit adjunct rooms with a candle on each
table and a ceiling made of billowing
fabric. The coffeehouse has abstract
a. paintings and wallpaper, stained
m glass windows and a decorative
pf staircase full of plants and Buddha
p statues. When you're in a place that
looks fun, you'll have fun.
Pied Cow's menu goes cleverly be
yond coffee. You can always get a
I double shot of espresso with a
scoop of whipped cream, served in
a ceramic cup and saucer, but you
can also get a dense layered dessert
of peanut butter and chocolate fudge
served in a teacup.
The food's purpose is to enrich social
gatherings. The appetizers, such as
bread and cheese plates, beg to be
shared. Crepes come to the table liter
ally flaming, which is quite a spectacle
And once you discover a fabulous dish
only offered at Pied Cow, you keep
coming back for more (mine happens
to be a tall glass filled with iced coffee
vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and a
mountain of whipped cream).
Pied Cow also wins points for their
warm weather specialty — one-night
rentals of Arabian water pipes (or
"hookahs") to be used for smoking
pleasure in the adjoining garden. For
the uninitiated, hookahs are tall towers
(often constructed of metal or brass)
with attached hoses for people to
smoke from. The top contains a small
chamber that can be filled with flavored
tobacco, which is what Pied Cow offers.
I'm not a huge smoking advocate in
general, but nothing can beat passing
the hose around a giggling circle of
friends on a hot summer night, espe
cially when the tobacco is a refreshing
mint flavor and is followed by a sip of
soothing, ginger peach tea.
And the staff of Pied Cow are suc
cessful because they appear to be part
of the interior design. Waiters and
Turn to CHILINGERIAN, page 12
Local coffee shops
provide boost students need
Ryan Nyburg
Senior Pulse Reporter
Coffee is quite possibly the most
popular legal drug in America. It's easy
to see why,
considering
the effects it
has on the
human
mind. Caf
feine increas
es awareness and short-term memory,
raises the heart rate and can really give
the old ticker a hefty wake-up kick in
the morning. This all plays really well
into Friedrich Nietzsche's theory about
society's concern with the Appolonian
side of human nature. According to
him, we're apparently too disconnect
ed from our emotions and too con
cerned with the scientific order. As such,
coffee is the most suitable drug for us,
as it amplifies both these attributes.
So let us examine how we can best
fulfill our thirst for this bitter black fluid
on and around campus by surveying a
number of local outlets for the pur
veyance of awareness-enhancing chem
icals. In other words, this is a review of
local coffee shops.
First is Common Grounds, located
in Hamilton Complex. This is
essentially an outlet for residence hall
denizens and as such probably won't
be visited much by the outside world.
This is unfortunate, as the place has a
few advantages to offer.
To start, it is open until 2 a.m.,
REPORTER'S
NOTEBOOK
which is about two hours later than
most coffee shops in Eugene. The cof
fee is also inexpensive, but this is not
always a good thing. Their regular cof
fee tastes like brown water, only with
a lower caffeine content. The espresso
drinks are a bit better. The cafe also of
fers "organic" coffee, which I suppose
distinguishes it from inorganic mat
ter, such as gravel or Folgers.
The atmosphere is comfortable; with
a high number of cozy chairs. The food
consists of standard coffeehouse offer
ings translated into residence hall food.
Not bad, in any case.
Next up is The Buzz Coffeehouse, lo
cated on the EMU ground floor. This
Buzz is one outlet for campus perform
ance arts, such as poetry readings,
among other assaults on human de
cency. Other than that the place serves
a rather simple purpose on campus,
giving people a place to sit study and
load up on the appropriate amount of
energy needed to survive the day intact.
The comfy-chair ratio is average and
the music is whatever college radio fa
vorites the employees want to hear.
Pricing is standard and the pastries are
scrumptious. Nothing particularly spe
cial, but nice.
Just off campus, Espresso Roma of
fers another good place for pure study
and caffeine intake. They also have an
outdoor seating area for indulging in
other vices. The prices are about aver
age, starting at $ 1 for an 8 oz. cup of joe.
But the biggest appeal of the place is the
coffee itself. While not much on flavor,
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it makes up for it by pure force of con
tent. This stuff could bring the dead to
life if administered correctly. It's inele
gant but effective.
Starbucks, the other popular study
spot for students near campus, is lo
cated just down the street from
Espresso Roma. The decor is pretty
much like every other Starbucks in
America, meant to give off the air of
suave hipness. The prices are a bit
above average, about five cents more
per cup across the board.
I've always found something disturb
ing about Starbucks. The problem is
that they fetishize coffee, making it a
lifestyle rather than just a drink. They
try to peddle the entire Starbucks way
of living with each cup. When you go
into the store, you have to walk past all
the mugs, bagged coffees, espresso
makers and music before you can reach
the counter. All I want is a mocha.
Honestly though, the coffee isn't ter
rible. But it's certainly nothing special
and is not worth the trouble you have
to go through to get to it.
Contact the senior Pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
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