FAIR GRINDS VOTED BEST

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I’ve got some news that is even hotter than the coming summer weather, and it has been very hard to keep it a secret until now, but (big drum roll…), thanks to your support and votes, and many others, Fair Grinds Coffeehouse for the first time has been named by the Times-Picayune as the Readers’ Choice 2012 Best Coffeehouse in New Orleans! When you pick up your Langiappe section in what used to be the daily paper, you will see us right there in the catbird seat at #1!

That’s not all either.

Friends and faithful coffee drinkers at Fair Grinds have also voted Fair Grinds Fair Trade Coffee as the #2 Readers’ Choice Best Cup of Coffee in New Orleans. We’re not getting the big head at Fair Grinds, but I can also assure you that we won’t rest until the people in the Greater New Orleans area find out that we actually have the best cup of coffee in town. We’re setting our sights, and you will enjoy the journey.

Speaking of great fairtrade coffee, we had a ball rolling out the coffee carts (ok, that wasn’t as fun as we had hoped, but thanks to our customers for helping us get across Esplanade Avenue!) over to Cabrini High School to give the young women exam takers a “jolt of justice,” serve up hot and iced “good luck” coffee, and give the girls some good information on the importance of fairtrade. We’re crossing our fingers that we can do this on a regular basis and that the girls cry for more.

We had fun the other day with a book signing in the Fair Grinds Common Space with Lawrence Powell signing his new book about New Orleans, Accidental City, for our good neighbors, Maple Street Bookstore, and we are definitely going to put Larry on our Fair Grinds Dialogue calendar later in the year as more of us make it through the book. The Fair Grinds Dialogue is up in the air for June because our friend and regular tea drinking customer, Jerome Smith, legendary civil rights organizer and long time director and founder of Tambourine & Fan, has been out of pocket so we haven’t been able to tighten him down. Keep an eye on the bulletin board because this still may happen in June or we may have to push it off if Jerome is tied up, but whenever he’s ready, I know this is going to be something the Fair Grinds community will deeply appreciate. This is on the calendar for Tuesday, June 19th at 7PM, but, as I say, stay tuned!

Rising temperatures simply mean that the music has to heat up to keep up and the patio is sometimes cooking so hopefully that will be what you hear in June:

Self Evidence – Friday June 1st 7PM

LNJ Music – Saturday June 2nd 730PM

Benjamin Booker and You’re So Cool – Saturday June 9th 8PM

Andrea Bush – Sunday June 10th 730 PM

Issac Bramblett, Singer & Songwriter – Tuesday June 12th 730 PM

Open Mic with Robert Eustis – Tuesday June 14th 7 PM

Lips & Trips – Friday, June 15th 7pm (Are you coming?!?)

Brian Nebel – Monday June 25th 730 PM

Keep up with the events calendar on our website for any other groups that may be late additions. There are also some nice surprises like the book event for parents and children by Tomas Moniz, the editor of Rad Dad, which I have to admit sounds fascinating to me.

"Sunshine" and "Can't Stop the Beet" are two new offerings at Fairgrinds
Besides the expanding red and orange and gold paint starting to brighten up Fair Grinds another little housekeeping matter in June will be a bit of a shift around the counter. Katie Murphy, who brightens the day for many in the mornings, was a key ingredient in making the new Fair Grinds work when we turned the key on the lock for the first time on October 15th, and she will still be doing so with a smile, but her art has called her so she’s stepping aside as manager to listen to her muse as well in June, and Kami Ownbey, who has been the night manager, is stepping up her game for the whole coffeehouse. Theirs have been the shoulders I’ve gotten to lean on in learning from the cup up, so this transition has been as smooth as silk. Give them some thanks as we head for the summer!

There’s a lot more, but come by Fair Grinds, and we’ll keep trying to surprise you.

Best!

Wade Rathke

Ps. Ok, yes, that means that granitas and more cold drinks are going to be debuting in June, so let us know what you think, and we’re very close to starting to bring the juicer up to the front and make it while you watch. How about that?