RFT: Kaldi's Among Top 5 Places for Coffee, Espresso

RFT readers say the St. Louis coffee chain serves the area's best espresso.

RFT readers chose Kaldi's as the St. Louis area's favorite spot for espresso, the publication recently revealed in its Restaurants 2013 guide. Kaldi's has locations on De Mun, in downtown Clayton and Kirkwood. "Buying espresso drinks from Kaldi's is a simple, rewarding act you can feel good about from the first drink to the last," according to RFT. Runners up in the category included Sump Coffee, Coffee Cartel, Foundation Grounds and Mud House.  Coffee Cartel managed snag the top spot in the coffee category with Kaldi's close behind. Other runners up included Foundation Grounds, Mud House and Soulard Coffee Garden.  Rankings were determined by reader votes, according to RFT.  Is Kaldi's your preferred coffee spot? What's your go-to order…

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Kaldi's Coffee Rolls Out New Menu Changes

Find out about new cup sizes and why they're ending bottomless cups. Several of these changes have already been in effect for the historic DeMun location in Clayton.

Kaldi's on DeMun Gets New Look

Patrons who've been craving the beloved Clayton coffee spot since it closed for remodeling can now stop by for a look at changes to its menu and interior.

Coffee Hippie Cohen Markets New Brew at Clayton Farmer's Market

The Creve Coeur resident is planning to leave a career in banking to pursue a new business, Stringbeans.

Peter Cohen is a self-pronounced coffee hippie who's planning to trade nearly 15 years of banking for his own line of bold drinks. Cohen was among the vendors at the Clayton Farmer's Market on Saturday. "At the start of the year, I will be doing coffee full-time," said Cohen, a Creve Coeur resident whose roastery is in Fenton. On Saturday, a roasting machine churned beans as he spoke with market visitors and handed out cups of coffee. Cohen finds most St. Louis-area coffee to be bitter, but he wants his drinks to be bold without that element. He characterizes himself as a micro-artisan coffee roaster. Cohen also plays bass in a band. His company name—Stringbeans—combines the idea of strings on a musical instrument and that of coffee beans…

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Patch Picks

Patch Picks: Five Places to Get a Truly Clean Glass of Cloudy Brown Liquid

Brown isn’t always bad. We find five delicious brown drinks that you’ll be happy to see in a glass.

In honor of Missouri American Water's assurances to Clayton residents that the brown, cloudy water that came from taps earlier this week was entirely safe to drink, we rounded up five places to get a cloudy brown beverage you’ll be proud to drink.

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Jeff Brandt

1:47 am on Friday, April 15, 2011

Brilliant!   more ›

Great Escape

Great Escape: Two Clayton Restaurants Offer Getaway From March Madness

This week, Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch presents an edition of Great Escape for the rest of us.

*Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the price of a full cheesecake at My Daddy's Cheesecake. A single-flavor, eight-pound cheesecake costs $27.95, while a cheesecake can be shipped anywhere in the U.S. for about $50. This article has been updated to reflect the correct pricing. Your teens are holding a car wash at the high school Saturday. The grandparents volunteered to take the younger children to a movie Sunday afternoon. Your tweens take tap on Wednesday evening.  It’s your time. Take it. Each week, we’ll tell you about one great idea to give you a much deserved break, and make your life a little easier, maybe a whole lot easier. This week, Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch invites folks who think the…

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This Saturday, the Coffee is on Patch

Join us in Richmond Heights for free coffee and giveaways.

Patch is the new kid in town in terms of providing community news and information. In order to spread the word about our offerings and meet the people who already know about us, our Clayton-Richmond Heights and University City editors will be at Schnucks in Richmond Heights on Saturday.  We are looking forward to meeting you!

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The Virtual Life

Plugged In: St. Louis Bread Company is Home Office for Many

The first installment of this occasional column surveys the working conditions at Bread Co. branches, including in Clayton and Richmond Heights.

If you frequent St. Louis Bread Company (known to those outside St. Louis as Panera), you can hardly fail to notice people working. Yes, the employees are busy serving up soups, sandwiches and scones. But I'm talking about the people hunched over their laptops and talking business over coffee and bagels.  “We see interviews taking place," area director Don Hutcheson said. "There’s cubicle zombies that are looking to get out of their office and sit down with a (cup) of coffee. It's a real big escape for lots of people." I am one of those people. Patch does not have offices, so I divide my time between a desk in my spare bedroom and tables at cafés. Bread Co. is ideal for lots of reasons. Plenty of locations around metro St. Louis? Check. …

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Patch Picks

Five Great Cups of Hot Chocolate

This week on Patch Picks we found five places to get a cup of warm brown goodness to fight the winter cold.

If you’ve given up caffeine or just want to take the kids out for a warm beverage, there are plenty of great options other than coffee. This week, we found five great mugs of hot cocoa hidden around Clayton.

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Celebrities Sample Kaldi's Coffee in Run-Up to Golden Globes

The Awards Blend is now available to purchase from the company's stores and Web sites.

Hollywood celebrities got a taste of St. Louis during the run-up to the Golden Globes held in mid-January. "It was a great experience for us," said Frank McGinty, director of sales and marketing for Kaldi's Coffee Co. The company operates two coffee shops in Clayton—its original site on DeMun Avenue and another on Carondelet Plaza. The business staffed a gifting-lounge table on the Friday and Saturday leading up to the Jan. 16 awards ceremony. Stars had the opportunity to stop by, spend five to 10 minutes learning about Kaldi's, try its coffee, and pick up T-shirts and other gear. Among the notables who stopped by: Adrien Brody (The Pianist, King Kong), Martin Short (Saturday Night Live, Three Amigos), Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile…

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