There’s still time to nominate local icons for Best of D.C.
Mark Furstenberg, the master baker who apparently can’t rise in the morning without a strong shot of espresso, wrote me shortly after I posted this video about the future of kitchen gadgets. He wanted to take me to task for mocking the portable espresso machine.
Wrote Furstenberg:
I have one and took it with me when I went to Germany to work in a bakery near Munich. Indeed, I take it with me to California. Easy to use and very nice to have in a hotel.
So there!
I wasn’t sure if we were talking about the same machines. So then he sent me the glamor shot above, which is when I asked him to publicly defend the device. Here’s what he wrote back:
No, it doesn’t make my best shot. I put in a standard pod and heat water to the boil, pump the little machine that resembled a bicycle pump, and pour water into the little reservoir. A little switch pushes the water through the pod and a decent shot of espresso dribbles out. It has a crema, not great, and because the reservoir is plastic, the espresso isn’t as hot as I would like.
But I can make it in the bathroom of my hotel room — and it’s a lot better than nothing at all.
In Napa Valley, when I am there for Greystone, I can buy some unpasteurized milk, heat it in a microwave and have a faux cappuccino. No foam.
Mark, maybe this is impudent of me. But don’t they have a Starbucks in Napa?