Welcome, CACAO

The free samples have been, well... sampled; the crumbs wiped off our shirts and the votes have been cast. The pastries baked by Jacques Poulain of CACAO were an immediate hit with our expert panel of tasters. The croissant and pain au chocolat share that flakey exterior and airey buttery-ness found in expertly baked patisserie. The peach danish was so delicious that I forgot how to share; I'm looking forward to the other seasonal fruits they will be locally sourcing. The biggest surprise and staff favorite was the beignet - fried dough coated in sugar - a perfect accompaniment to our upcoming single origin coffee, the Brazil Cerrado Gold. If you're looking for something smaller, look for a selection of their macarons on the counter; we're expecting mango, chocolate, and raspberry tomorrow.

I'm so happy to have found passionate individuals like Jacques and Vili, welcome them, and introduce you to their work - that is, if you haven't had it already: Jacques bakes out of the Cleveland Park location just a few block south on Connecticut Ave.

Hope you appreciate the hard work that is sampling pastries; we'll do anything for you!

Meet P&P's new owners and be active in planning its future and that of Modern Times

A message from P&P's website:

Friday, July 22, 4 - 6 p.m.
Customer Focus Group
This will be the first of several small focus groups with customers intended to elicit your ideas and suggestions for the store. (Sign up required at the information desk or by phoning 202-364-1919 – first come, first serve)

Documentary Appreciation Salon

7:30 pm, Thursday, July 21 @ the Coffeehouse

Docs in Progress presents

Documentary Appreciation Salon:

Documentary's Impact on and Influence from Reality TV

This salon series brings together filmmakers and documentary film aficionados to discuss and debate great issues in documentary cinema. Each salon will focus around a particular sub-genre of documentary and use clips from documentary films and questions from the moderator to spur reflection and discussion. As a way to encourage greater discourse on documentary film, this series is free to the public although donations are always welcome.

This month's topic will focus on how documentary has influenced and is influenced by "reality" television. Now an almost default setting for mainstream entertainment, Reality TV emerged in the early 1970s as a highly experimental and controversial mode of documentary expression.This salon focuses on Reality TV’s intersections with different trends in documentary filmmaking, how the mode has shifted over the past four decades, and its current place in the broadcast industry. Groundbreaking programs such as PBS’s An American Family (1973) will be central to the discussion.


We are pleased to welcome guest facilitator, Josh Glick. He is a PhD candidate at Yale University in the departments of Film Studies and American Studies. His research and teaching interests are focused on the history and theory of American documentary film, Hollywood, and race and representation in popular media.

Although this is a free event, because of limited seating (of no more than 15 participants), advance registration is highly recommended. Wi-fi will be disabled during the event. For more information, visit www.docsinprogress.org

Coffee Granita

This is a great way to use up stale coffee beans or leftover coffee. Brew it up strong and then sweeten and freeze. From The Flavors of Sicily, by Anna Tasca Lanza.

Granita di Caffé/Coffee Granita

3/4 c. sugar
2 c. water
1 + 1/4 c. strong coffee

Dissolve sugar in water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Boil for about 5 minutes until reduced to a light syrup. Stir in the coffee and let cool.

Pour the mixture into a shallow metal pan or ice cube trays and freeze for 2 or more hours. Every 30 minutes use a fork to break up the ice crystals.

Chip the granita into cups or mugs that have been chilled in the freezer. Top with whipped cream, cream, or milk.

desperately seeking pastries

We're sorry to say that we will no longer be getting croissants, danishes, or focaccia from Farid Fellag for reasons beyond our control. We are currently searching for an adequate replacement and would appreciate your suggestions and recommendations.

send us an email:
coffeehouse (at) moderntimescoffeehouse.com
javier (at) moderntimescoffeehouse.com

or leave your comments below.

(Again, we're really sorry. We're pretty bummed here at the shop as well, but have gotten some good leads thanks to some of you.)

June Art Exhibit EXTENDED

Note: This photo show has been extended until July 14, 2011. In addition, all photographs are on sale for reduced prices. Please contact the artist directly to arrange purchase. (Business cards can be picked up at the cafe counter). An online gallery of "Tidal Ways" can be found here.

Rick Crockett’s “Tidal Ways”, currently on display at Modern Times Coffeehouse, is an ongoing series of photographic images whose ultimate purpose is to capture and chronicle the accidental artistry created by the sea as it interacts with the natural elements and debris its tides deposit along the coastlines of North America. Not a single component is ever added, removed, or rearranged during the process of photographing what not only emerge as works of art that can be simultaneously beautiful, humorous, and haunting, but may also upon deeper reflection cause one to feel as if they are participating in a Rorschach test that has been intricately etched into a canvas of sand.

Intrigued by the idea of celebrating a world seen only through his own viewfinder, Mr. Crockett became a serious photographer within moments of taking his first camera out for a test run on the back streets of San Francisco more than 25 years ago. Since that day he has created a body of work that encompasses a wide range of subject matter and themes, all driven by the simple principle that anything visually and emotionally compelling is worth the effort to memorialize that experience as an image that could outlive the person who captured it -- himself. To that end, Mr. Crockett has taken pictures of musicians, magicians, politicians, chimpanzees, children, Caribbean sunsets, Scottish ruins, urban demise, lobster shacks, and coastal life on opposite sides of America, as well as having lent his eye to innumerable public and private events in his capacity as a professional photographer.

In addition to his photographic efforts, Rick Crockett is the author of four books of poetry. His latest collection, MOSES STUTTERED (Musings on Love, Faith & Other Tricks of Light), features several images from his “Tidal Ways” series. Mr. Crockett is also the creator of “Lines on the Face of Portland,”a framed exhibit of six impressionistic "wall poems” commemorating the 350th birthday of Maine’s largest city. His work has drawn high praise from Lawrence Ferlinghetti, an American poet whose A CONEY ISLAND OF THE MIND still remains the most popular book of poetry ever sold in the U.S. Current projects include “Beyond the Call of Beauty,” a compilation of images exploring the inevitable, slow-motion deterioration of physical and natural matter as it is observed in the real-time world around us. Rick Crockett is also working on his next collection of poems, tentatively titled, TALKING IN MY SLEEP.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival - Colombia

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall runs this weekend and next weekend. One of the featured countries/cultures is Colombia. There are a number of coffee related sessions including:

Coffee culture
Coffee basketry
Coffee growers and Juan Valdez
Coffee cuisine

Check their website for complete schedule and more information and do let us know if you go!