Justin was pretty excited to head out to Red Medicine  near Restaurant Row on La Cienega Blvd.  Red Medicine has a great team, and it was fun to hang out at the bar to check out the menu and take a sneak peek into the kitchen before hours. In fact, the menu was so tempting that Justin went back in the evening for the #60 cocktail (a pear crusta) and the Banh Mi plus sweet potatoes. Banh Mi and sweet potatoes are only served at the bar which is pretty awesome since Justin always enjoys chatting with bartenders.

Justin is our favorite beaver at Handsome Coffee Roasters.  You can generally find him here:

But, lately Justin’s been restless, so we’re sending him out on some adventures around town. First stop: Paper or Plastik.

What makes Paper or Plastik so unique? It’s a 3-fer: coffee shop, cultural space and boutique.

Yasha, Anyah, Marina and Luke work together to make a space that stands for quality without compromise.  Yasha tells me the space took some blood, sweat and tears to get off the ground, but looking at the beautiful space and the happy customers, I can say the result is worth it.

If you’re in the neighborhood, on the way to the Grove or just looking for something new to try, swing by Paper or Plastik for coffee and a snack and check out the schedule of events at MiMoDa the dance studio, screening room and theater space directly adjacent to Paper or Plastik. There’s always something interesting and exciting going on.

Los Angeles — It’s a well established fact that everyone here at Handsome Coffee Roasters loves to eat. Just the other day, Chris Owens and I drove over to Bäco Mercat for lunch. 

 Bäco is great; they brew Handsome Coffee, make delicious food, and have a full bar stocked with tasty adult beverages. 

Delicious Food 

More Delicious Food (Extra Bonus: Owens’ stylish sunglasses) 

The food was great - I finished mine within 3 minutes (I really love eating, it’s almost a problem) - but this is what made the visit especially special:

Nick, the Bartender at Baco 

Nick was awesome. Take a look at the photo; he didn’t stand still long enough for me to get a picture of him in focus. He’s a damn good bartender and server - our drinks and water were never empty, he was friendly, and he took great care of us. We really love hospitable and professional people. A lot. 

Thanks Nick. 

Bäco has a Twitter, you can follow them at @bacomercat. You can also go say hello to Nick. Tell him Handsome Coffee sent you…

…it will make you look cool - I’m talking Bodhi in “Point Break” cool.  

<3 Jesse (@twofistedangelo) 

LOS ANGELES — Meet Mario Carlos:

Oh hey there UG 22/Mario Carlos

 Mario is what we would call “awesome,” which is exactly why he’s a part of our team. 

 Some of you might be thinking, “Well, what exactly does this Mario character do at Handsome Coffee?” Please allow me to explain - I promise I’ll keep it short.

 Mario does everything; He’s the man who will help Chris Owens roast coffee in the evening, stay up until 4am bagging coffee, be pulling delicious shots of espresso at 7am, deliver coffee around Los Angeles at noon, make denim aprons for the team all evening, and then pour drinks at the training lab until 11pm. You’d think a 24-hour work day would wear a man down, but Mario does it all with a smile.

His love of coffee is damn contagious, and we’re thrilled that he’s a part of the team. 

So everyone please welcome Mario to Team Handsome Coffee - Follow him on Twitter at @Cap10M, send love letters to Mario@HandsomeCoffee.com, and look forward to seeing more of him in the future. 

<3 Jesse (@TwoFistedAngelo) 

LOS ANGELES — Today my friend Pat and I decided to go on a downtown coffee crawl. Our first stop was Demitasse, an awesome coffee bar on San Pedro. Getting there from Handsome is easy- If you’re on 2nd, you’ll go north on San Pedro. If you’re on 1st, you’ll go south on San Pedro.

I sure love two-way streets downtown; they’re so darn convenient. 

Cafe Demitasse: Conveniently located on a two-way street Downtown. 

Demitasse is one of those rare establishments where they say “hi” and smile when you walk in, and then say “bye” and smile when you leave. You might say Demitasse is a fan of the dying art of hospitality. 

Hospitality is Handsome. (Pretty sure I just coined that phrase) 

Our Barista, Frank Valerio, was great. He served us some delicious espresso.

The owner, Bobby, was also great. He served us some delicious iced-coffee.

Frank and Bobby = Good People

Demitasse features a variety of great coffee: Portola, Augies, Trystero, and Handsome. They’ve also got delicious goodies from Compartes Chocolatiers, Jin Patisserie, and Batch from Scratch. Bobby is adamant on only serving products produced in the greater Los Angeles area. I appreciate the hell outta that. 

Oh hey there GB/5

An hour-and-a-half of talking to Bobby and Frank passed pretty quickly. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Handsome Headquarters. It was likely the most successful one-bar coffee crawl ever.

Beautiful Coffee Bar

If you’re cool, you’ll follow Demitasse on Twitter @CafeDemitasse, and their barista Frank @LaVidaEsCafe…

…but if you’re totally bodacious, you’ll go downtown and see them. 

<3 Jesse (@TwoFistedAngelo)

By Jesse Scarantino

@TwoFistedAngelo

LOS ANGELES — This recent “summer-in-January” Los Angeles weather has been great. In celebration of this beautiful weather, we’re putting on the easiest scavenger hunt ever. Let’s celebrate the great coffee in downtown LA…and we’ll reward you for your efforts!

Here’s how it works:  

1 - Grab your bicycle/car/motorcycle/moped/helicopter and visit The Coffee Bar LA and Spring for Coffee on Los Angeles St. 

2 - Get receipts from both visits (between now and Monday 1/16)

3 - Bring the receipts to Handsome Headquarters (starting 1/16, ending when we run out of “You Did It” super secret rewards)

Complete these three modest tasks, and we’ll give you a tour of the soon-to-be-opening Handsome Coffee Roastery/Coffee Bar, make you as much coffee as you can handle, and give you a special little sumthin’ as a thank you for supporting some damn fine downtown coffee spots..and should you fail to achieve, even in the modest task you were charged, I have no choice but to tell these bums that they should do whatever is necessary to recover their money from you, Jeffery Lebowski. 

And you can do it…because I did it just this afternoon. It feels like a sunny summer day downtown, especially on a bike. Today, I left the Handsome Headquarters and rode to The Coffee Bar LA on Spring St, which took me less than ten minutes. From The Coffee Bar I headed south, and within 5 minutes, was at Spring For Coffee’s new location on Los Angeles St. 

Two great coffee spots within a 15 minute bicycle commute from Handsome = DTLA Scavenger Hunt!

Spring For Coffee

@springforcoffee 

817 S. Los Angeles St. (Between 8th & 9th)

7:00am - 12:00pm

The Coffee Bar LA

@coffeebarla

600 S. Spring St. 

Mon-Fri 7:00am - 6:00pm

Sat-Sun 8:00am - 6:00pm

Handsome Coffee Roasters

@handsomeroaster

582 Mateo St. (Corner of Mateo and Willow)
Mon-Fri 7:30am - 4:30pm*

(*NOTE: these are the training hours we are at the HHQ during construction. Our grand opening will occur in February.*)

Extra Bonus Feature: Some pictures from my adventure:

Coffee Bar’s patio.

Coffee Bar’s staff: Doug, Todd, Liz, Jenna and Michael

Spring For Coffee: Easy to miss, worth looking for. 

The one-and-only Matt Borg pulling shots of Fisticuffs at Spring for Coffee 

The Market on Holly is really great. They serve Handsome Coffee, but that isn’t why they’re great. 

Tyler and Phillips are regulars at The Market. I rode my bike there today and had a really awesome breakfast. They’ve been open since May of 2011, and already have a loyal following of regular guests.

Take a look at the Gb5 (through a beautiful case of delicious baked goods and pastries.) 

Rather than ramble incessantly about why The Market is so damn good, I’m going limit myself to three (3) reasons: 

1. The people that work there are great. Ren, the young lady who runs The Market, is really awesome. Ren assembled a team of wonderful, friendly, and passionate people. The Market’s main baristas - Stephanie, Miriam, and Carrie - love coffee, and do a damn great job of making it.  

2. The food at The Market is delicious. Heather, the baker, is damn talented. If you only visit for the gruyere and ham croissants, you’ll be happy. Jen Smith, who runs the kitchen, is also amazing. If you only visit for a frittata, you’ll be happy. The same goes for the pork shoulder sandwich, or the veggie sandwich, or the beet-cured gravlox on a bagel with herb-cream cheese, or the lime-cilantro salad, or the… 

3. The Market on Holly is a market; you can go there and buy cheese, charcuterie, beer, wine, olive oil, and a bunch of other amazing food-related items. And it’s all really good, too.

4. This Sunday is their first Sunday Brunch service. It starts at 9am, and the menu looks epic. 

5. You can go in for a glass of wine, or a tasty beer. And they have a damn respectable selection, too. 

Say hi to Ren when you visit! 

I think you get the point. Go the The Market on Holly. It’s worth it - I promise. 

You should also go to their WEBSITE, and follow them on Twitter…

…I mean, it’s only what all the cool kids are doing.  

<3 Jesse (@twofistedangelo)