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The urban barista is so many things at once—a host, a culinary artist, a performer on an exotic glittering stage, a counselor, listener, friend, and purveyor of caffeine. People come in dim and dappled, and they need their coffee. We do our magic, and they happy-up, ready to face the day. This is the first reality of the barista: seeing and greeting people who may not be ready to face the world. I am very concerned about being a good, approachable host. If I walk into a business where I do not feel appreciated, I do not care what they make or do—I'm outta there. And if I have not had my coffee yet, I don't want a lot of chatter directed at me. I' d prefer if they just read my mind and made something perfectly, and quickly. And if mind reading is unavailable at the time, I want to be listened to. It is compassionate listening that makes a barista approachable day after day by the widest variety of people. Compassionate listening Many espresso bar owners are offering single-origin espressos and may try to regale the customer in line with details of the particular coffee. Offering single-origin espresso is a wonderful idea. Bringing out the flavor of each coffee is made possible by the precision technology available in espresso machines with effective temperature control. You may be very excited about your Guatemala Antigua, but your customer just wants to enjoy it and not get a speech as he or she tries to order. I call this "taking them to school. " We never take our customer to school before they have had coffee. Rather, we are very enthusiastic to respond if they come back and initiate a conversation about the coffee, latte art, or anything else we do as long as we are not holding up the line to do so. If it is too busy for the kind of in-depth conversation they crave, I may invite them to my Friday single origin tasting sessions. Some espresso bars advocate a high chat style in a barista with lots of intrusive personality and flattering comments. I call this the personality trap. It may increase sales for a year or so, but ultimately the chatty one moves on, and many of her customers may go with her. Putting out a lot of chat is also tough on the barista who, after seeing 400 people a day, will burn out. Compassionate listening makes each encounter unique and preserves energy. To be a long term pro, a barista must conserve energy and use it where it counts—in speed and quality. Also, if you are intent on making people feel great with flattering chat, you attract people that need that…not a pretty picture over time. Again, my approach is old school: I believe that when they come in my door, they want a cup of coffee; my customers already have a life. My model for the most approachable bar style is the Milanese barista. In Milan, the baristas I met—maybe 50 or 60 of them on two extended visits—were cool, of course. Cool in the popular usage of the term, but also quietly reserved and not full of false charm and a bunch of chatter. At first, I, a cotton-clad tourist from the States, felt that they did not like me or want me in there. But then I noticed something. The second I ordered something, the barista would quickly and deftly begin expert preparation. They were all listening, even if I ordered at the register, which is up front in most Italian espresso bars. They heard the order and launched into action. They were never rushed and frantic, rather, they were smooth and practiced, and I was their clear priority at that moment. Therein lies my only issue with the barista contests: they are very good for highlighting this new profession and developing skills to create beautiful espresso coffee, but they shift the attention to the barista. They may offer a few lucky winners a career path in barista training and consultation. But they focus so much on the barista as a sort of a star that the young winners can get a self-centered attitude and come to believe the whole thing of being a pro barista is a showcase for their talents. The customer in line doesn't care about that so much. They just want a fabulous coffee with attention to detail. The espresso bar can seem like a clubby place with a vague snobbishness pervading it if the barista is self absorbed. It feels like a club that we are not in. A customer can feel left out of this quite easily, and ordering a cappuccino can feel like getting guitar lessons from a rock star. I don't want to talk to a rock star before I've had my coffee. I want to speak to someone who is listening. The encounter It all begins with eye contact. To be a good host requires the barista to make eye contact with the customer within a few moments after he or she has crumpled in. Human beings are an aggressive, territorial species, and this says "welcome to my space. " A nod is all you may have time for, and that's fine. The eye contact says welcome. In addition to being a good host, we baristas should be concerned with relaxing our customers, so they may really enjoy the little works of art we make them everyday. We do this with bar design as well as with our service style. Here's an interesting question to ponder: if a perfect espresso is placed on the counter and no one drinks, it does it have any flavor? I say no: flavor is the human perception of something we ingest (or even just swish around a bit). Why do I bring this up? It's because the human being is the most important aspect of the culinary experience. Your moods, previous food intake, time of day, health, and present company have a great deal to do with how things taste. There is no objective "best coffee" on planet Earth. There are coffees roasted and made well, or not so well, but if you ask a person "what is the best cup of coffee you ever had"—in the words of Terrance McKenna, you always get a story about set and setting. "OMG! I was with Mary, before the recent unpleasantness, in the cutest little espresso bar in Spain. I will never forget the little Ibrik the waiter brought out, and it was the best coffee of my life. " This is why I prioritize building beautiful, well laid out espresso bars: to try and relax the customer before he or she orders. An excellent barista takes it from there. The order This business is based on regular customers. And if your concept is gourmet, the customer is possessed of enough sensitivity to appreciate the difference in your espresso. A sensitive person may not want a lot of personal conversation every day before coffee, so I teach my staff to try to stay away from leading questions such as "How ya doing today?" Focus the encounter right away on the customers' needs, using phrases like "What can I get you?" or "How can I help you?" Keep it simple, and you'll be seen as welcoming and approachable every day. Then listen and get it right. Being listened to, really heard, by an ambassador of cool such as a barista is a wonderful, but sadly rare, experience. Repeat the order back to the customer, and emphasize the details the customer has stressed, such as not too hot. The number one key to speed on a bar is getting the order right the first time. To endear them to you forever, memorize the drink within two visits and simply greet them with "The usual today?" People yearn to be acknowledged and listened to in our highly paced urban cultures, and this is how we honor their choice to come into our café: we listen. When they need to talk, you'll know it. And of course we chat when a customer initiates it, and we have time. We wouldn't be in this business if we didn't like people. The performance Executing top notch coffee service is a dance of fluid efficiency. As a performance art, making espresso is clearly a case of the form following the function. The function, of course, is to prepare the finest espresso drinks for the pleasure of the customer, in the shortest amount of time. I recommend all baristas study the style of Murray Stimson, national bartender of the year in 2010. Back when Murray was still at Zig Zag with Ben Dougherty, we went in for drinks. He built up a beautiful custom cocktail for my friend, who had given just a tiny hint as to what she was in the mood for: something www.baristamagazine.com 73