St. Elmos Coffee Pub - Alexandria Part 1

The Kleiner and the Kleinette went to the Arlington Costco to get a copy of the Audacity to Win by David Plouffe signed (and to do the sample circuit...) and decided to bring their laptops and explore a hood they had not yet sampled, Del Ray in Alexandria.  A quick search for wifi/Del Ray alerted them to what seemed to be a great spot -St. Elmos Coffee Pub.

The St. Elmo's Coffee Pub is adorable and for the most part typifies the kind of coffee place that I would love to see open on Mt. Pleasant Street or somewhere in Columbia Heights.  First of all, Mt. Vernon Street, is adorable.  Filled with spas, quirky shops and art stores that encourage patrons to make art in their midst, it feels like a little artists colony.  St. Elmos Coffee Pub fits in well on the street, painted blue with white cloud sculptures with pigs flying on them adorn the big bay windows that face out onto the street.  Inside, the coffee 'pub' is spacious with couches, large tables with chairs a la Pain Quotidiene, a variety of vintage cushioned chairs and a coffee bar.  The walls are brightly colored in orange and marbled green and each one features a different artist showcasing water colors, pop-arty and photography for sale. The one strange thing was that they were playing opera on NPR which lent itself to a very quiet atmosphere.  Families, couples, friends and singles gather here to work on their computers, read novels, study and catch up.  There is community library in its own separate section of the coffee pub.  Finally - on Friday and Saturday nights - live free music!  Fantastic.

I had a gingerbread latte and the Kleiner had an iced White Chocolate Mocha that he found to be delicious and over Starbucks par.  I also liked the gingerbread latte, but, would like to try the vanilla toffee latte next time or one of the many other creative drinks on offer.  One menu offered daily drink concoction specials, while the rest of the menu was a typical coffee house menu, lattes, espressos, cappucinos, cafe au laits, teas all reasonably priced at Starbucks or just below Starbucks levels.  The bakery looked delicious, many muffin flavors, papusas (this is Northern Virginia), quiches, sandwiches.  Biscotti is present in abundance and the flavors included Pumpkin (this is November.... no menu of anything is complete without something squash infused).

St. Elmos is an adorable place to spend some time on a weekend afternoon, especially after a quick trip to Costco, however, I must give a word of warning.  They offer free wifi, but it has an extremely frustrating level of connectivity which makes it difficult to plan on coming to St. Elmo's to do any sort of web related work.  This may be a 'my computer' thing, but, I witnessed 'could not be loaded pages' all around me.  That said, I really wish someone would carbon copy this place with slightly livelier music right onto Mt. Pleasant Street - given the crowds at Heller's, I'm sure it would be packed :)

College Perk - Best News Ever?

Reporting by The Kleinette, Your Resident College Park Afficianado:

I may be the last, but definitely not the first, to see this post on the College Perk's MySpace page.  People outside College Park might not have known the joy of the Colleger Perk, a crazy little coffee house that settled into what seemed almost like a little compound on the hill at the juncture of Rt-1 and 193.  Rumors were that the property really had been a brothel, with all kinds of secret codes and rituals to get in.  I'm not sure I buy it, but, it was simply the most ideal coffee shop ever.  Full of rooms with bright walls and group couches and strange chairs that sometimes included a dental chair, the perk served delicious chai and coffee and eventually even alcohol and food.  It had an enormous white wooden movie screen outside, nights with very local politicians, open mic nights and music.  There was a genuine hippie, warm accepting atmosphere and many a person was there alone just finding their way.  I really loved it.  That said, I will quit gushing, because it had some tax problems and ended up shutting down.

However, their myspace page appears updated and it looks like it might take over:

"A New PERK—Yes, there may be a new PERK! The 94th Aero Squadron abandoned their lease on the property near the College Park Airport. We hope to resurrect a new improved version of The PERK in its place. The new PERK will maintain the same bohemian style coffeehouse—But lots more! The new PERK will offer a spectacular fine dining area, a banquet hall, and an indoor music stage for dinner theatre style concerts. So far, three notable chefs have signed on to make this effort succeed, including the original chef that first opened the 94th We are working with other local groups to include new features such as a green roof, solar, enhanced re-cycling, herb gardens, free meeting space for civic associations and student groups, blues jams, wine tastings, and a showcase of local musicians

 All we need to do now is convince M-NCPPC that The PERK should be there!"

Sounds great doesn't it???