Monthly Archives: October 2018

Fuel Coffee: Coffee Done Right

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Fuel Coffee is a perfect example of the independent coffee shop, full of personality, passion, and community. I’m honored that Fuel Coffee has been carrying Macrina products for so many years.

Leslie

 

A Favorite Spot

In Seattle, where coffee flows like rain, coffee shops are almost cliché. Yet, despite their prevalence, just about everyone can name their favorite spot. Some are drawn to a particular vibe, others to velvety foam, some to their favorite single-origin pour over, and others to the neighborhood gathering spot. Fuel Coffee is one of those neighborhood gathering spots that has gained fans citywide by offering excellent coffee and food, unpretentious comfort, and an independent spirit. Also, a steady team of experienced baristas spoil the many regulars with velvety foam, perfectly drawn shots of espresso, and even pour overs.

Dani Cone started Fuel Coffee in 2005 after 13 years of slinging coffee at one place or another. Her first barista job was at a deli on Mercer Island while still in high school. A barista job helped her through college in Oregon, and when she returned to Seattle, she worked at Caffe Vita for several years. She loved the subculture of coffeehouses and the kinetic nature of the whole industry. She loved the way coffee houses fostered community and inspired companionship. So she applied for an SBA loan, got it, and opened the first Fuel Coffee on 19th Ave E on Capitol Hill.

“I love how coffee brings together people from all walks of life,” Dani says. “No matter what type of person you are, there’s a place for you.”

Coffee Done Right

Even back in 2005, Seattle had a surplus of coffeehouses, and many told her she was crazy to open another one. But Dani was determined. “I love that there are so many great coffeehouses in Seattle,” Dani says. “There are lots of people and everyone drinks coffee. I wasn’t worried about what everyone else was doing. We just wanted to focus on what we were doing and make sure we were doing it the best, each day, for each customer.”

Fuel Coffee drew a loyal following immediately. Not more than a year after the café opened her landlord offered her a space in Montlake. Dani says, “My original business plan was to open a coffee shop and live out my days as a barista, happy as a clam. That was it.” But the opportunity felt too good to pass up and the second Fuel Coffee was born. Then just six months later a space she’d looked at in Wallingford opened up and that landlord reached out to her. Crazy as it was, she opened her third café in as many years.

While Dani couldn’t possibly be in all three places at once, her personality fills all three locations—in the well-trained staff, the carefully chosen items for sale, and the decor, a mix of hand-picked thrift shop gems, like the old Mobil oilcans and iconoclastic selection of picture books and tchotchkes that line the floor-to-ceiling shelves at the café on 19th.

Fuel Coffee and Beyond

Building on the success of Fuel Coffee, Dani has also gone on to create High 5 Pie (which she has since sold) and Cone & Steiner, a neighborhood market with locations on Capitol Hill and downtown. Dani says, “I love creating places for people to come together over good food and drink. That’s the common denominator. I also just really love coffee and eating.”

Thirteen years later, in this rapidly growing city, Fuel Coffee has become part of the fabric of the city. It feels like the prototype of so many of the city’s neighborhood gems. “I wanted Fuel Coffee to be a welcoming place for all people,” Dani says. “I wanted it to be a place where people would gather over great coffee and food, slow down for a little bit, and enjoy the company of others.”

You can find Fuel Coffee at:

Capitol Hill: 610 19th Avenue East, 98112

Montlake: 2300 24th Avenue East, 98112

Wallingford: 1705 North 45th Street, 98103

Thanh Huyen Dang: Bread General Manager

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Since I opened Macrina in 1993, so many amazing people have helped make the bakery what it is today. In honor of our 25th anniversary, we are spotlighting a few key employees. Each fills an essential role at Macrina. 

When I interviewed and hired Huyen Dang she was still a senior in high school. Our wholesale pastry manager, Tramy Le, recommended her. Right away Huyen made an impression with her hard work and attention to detail. Over the years she’s proved she can handle big responsibilities. Not only does she know how to do just about every job in production, she is frequently on the floor helping whichever group most needs the help. She plays a key role in our success.

Leslie

Huyen’s Role at Macrina

Thanh Huyen Dang, who goes by Huyen (pronounced “Wen”), is the general manager of Macrina’s bread production. She oversees the teams that prepare the dough, bake the bread, and do the packing. Overall, Huyen manages nearly 100 people. While she has plenty of office work to tackle, you’ll often find her on the production floor shaping loaves of bread. Huyen says, “Because we form every loaf of bread by hand, it is a lot of work.”

Huyen earned her general manager position through hard work and a talent for managing people. She was still in high school when she started working part-time at Macrina in 2002. After finishing high school, she moved to full time in the wholesale pastry department. Two years later, Phuong Bui, Head Baker, invited Huyen to join him in the bread department as his general. She was promoted to Bread General Manager in 2012. 

While many at Macrina know how hard Huyen works, few know it better than Jane Cho, Macrina’s Production Manager. “Huyen’s work ethic is incomparable,” Jane says. “She has the most positive can-do attitude and is always willing to help with whatever is needed.” 

December is always a hectic month at Macrina with holiday production in full swing. Jane remembers her first holiday rush in her new job as Production Manager vividly. “Huyen and I had already been working for 16 hours and still had a lot to do,” Jane says. “I insisted she go home, but she saw that delivery drivers were already starting to arrive and so much packing still had to be done. We formed a tag-team pack station on the fly. We were delirious from exhaustion and just when we thought we were done, someone rolled up a few more racks of bread. We just looked at each other and started to laugh hysterically.” Jane smiles at the memory of Huyen being right there supporting her through the challenge, then adds, “But here’s the thing about Huyen, she does that for everyone—co-managers and employees in all departments. I am so grateful for her support and guidance.”

Huyen and Family

What makes Huyen’s demanding job even more impressive is that she also has three children, ages fifteen, six, and five, to care for. Fortunately, Huyen comes from a close family, and her parents are available to help with the kids. 

Huyen and her family moved to Seattle from Vietnam when she was ten. She attended Whitman Middle School and Ingraham High School. “At first, learning English made school hard,” she says. “My parents don’t speak English. ESL classes at school helped.” 

Fluent in both English and Vietnamese, Huyen helps many of Macrina’s Vietnamese employees when they need help with a translation. “While I speak Vietnamese at home, there are many words related to baking that I didn’t know. My Vietnamese has gotten better in the time I’ve worked here.”

 

October Recipe of the Month

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Toasted Sesame Semifreddo with Mini Ginger Molasses Cookies

A semifreddo is an Italian, rich gelato-like dessert that is frozen overnight in a loaf pan, sliced and presented like the best ice cream cake you’ve ever had! This recipe is a fun fall dessert inspired by Gina DePalma’s cookbook, Dolce Italiano. The late fruit harvest of figs plays well with the toasted sesame flavors in the semifreddo. To top it off, enjoy with our new Mini Ginger Molasses Cookies. – Leslie Mackie

Ingredients:

Serves 6
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
4 eggs yolks
1/2 cup tahini
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons water
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 ripe figs, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely diced
1 tablespoon amaretto, port or brandy
1 package of Macrina’s Mini Ginger Molasses Cookies

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the sesame seeds on the prepared baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. Let cool and set aside.

Line a 9″x 5″ loaf pan with plastic wrap extending 5″ on each end to cover the top after it is filled.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment, whip the heavy cream to medium stiff peaks. Transfer to another bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Add the egg yolks, tahini and salt to the bowl of the stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, mix for 3-5 minutes.

Add 5 tablespoons of sugar, the honey and water to a shallow saucepan. Mix well and bring to a boil for 1 minute.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the hot sugar mixture, aiming to directly hit the egg mixture (as opposed to the whisk or sides of the bowl). When all the sugar is incorporated, increase speed to high and mix for 2 minutes to aerate and cool. Add the toasted sesame seeds and vanilla extract.

Remove from mixer and gently fold in the whipped cream. When well incorporated, spoon into the lined loaf pan. Cover top of container with the extended plastic wrap to seal the semifreddo. Freeze for 6-8 hours.

Place figs in a medium bowl and add 1 tablespoon sugar, the ginger and amaretto. Toss gently and let steep for at least 2 hours at room temperature.

Unwrap semifreddo and cut into 6 slices. Transfer each slice to a chilled plate, spoon on the spiced figs and serve with a Mini Ginger Molasses Cookie. Enjoy!

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Trieu Ly, Packing Department

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Since I opened Macrina in 1993, so many amazing people have helped make the bakery what it is today. In honor of our 25th anniversary, we are spotlighting a few key employees. Each fills an essential role at Macrina. 

Trieu Ly is an amazingly disciplined and meticulous person. I admire the pride he takes in his job and the entire performance of the packing department. His gentle personality and touch, both with baked goods and co-workers, make him a treasured member of our team. He’s consistently accurate and kind. He’s one of our best.

Leslie

 

Between all the kneading, proofing, hand-shaping, baking, and delivery of our various products lies one essential step: packing. While easy to overlook as a major step in the process, it’s every bit as important. About 20 people work in our packing department. Our baked goods and pastries are delicate and must be handled with care, and our customers count on us for precision. Their businesses depend on what they order arriving on time and in excellent condition. Trieu Ly fills a critical role in this process.

Trieu in the Packing Department

We hired Trieu to as a packer ten years ago. By personality, he’s neat and organized. Through a translator, he says, “If you’re messy you waste lots of time looking for things. Efficiency is important. I think of the most efficient way to move through the bakery so I gather what I need to pack without wasting steps. At home, I’m the same. Just ask my wife.”

Trieu’s supervisor, Cong Son, backs this up. “Trieu is very organized, neat and careful at his work station,” says Cong. “In ten years, he’s made very few packing mistakes. He also helps me train new employees.”

Trieu and the packing team come in the evening and work late into the night, so that our products are fresh and ready to go in the morning. This schedule works well for Trieu because his wife works at a hotel during the day. When their two boys were younger—the youngest is now 19—this allowed them to have a parent around at all times to help with the many challenges and needs that come with raising children.

At Macrina, Trieu stuffs bread into bags and readies them for drivers. Pastries are packed by order. One of Trieu’s challenges and small joys at work is to look at an order, visualize how he will pack it, and choose a box that will fit without wasted space. “It’s like a puzzle,” he says. “You need to get all the delicate pastries into a box so that they don’t slide all over in delivery. And you don’t want to have to resort to a second box.”

Trieu’s Journey

When Trieu came to America from Vietnam, he had very little. “I had only two shirts and two pairs of pants,” he says. “Macrina helped my family and me a lot. They helped with living expenses, utilities, rent, and more.” 

The story of Trieu meeting his wife is more adventurous than most. The Vietnam War displaced a significant number of Vietnamese citizens. About a million and a half refugees wound up in camps in Thailand, including Trieu’s wife. In 1989, Trieu got a ride into Cambodia, then traveled by foot into Thailand, a month-long journey in all. He and his wife met, fell in love, and married. For a time they stayed happily in Thailand, but eventually, the Thai government forced them to return to Vietnam. Life for returning war refugees in Vietnam was not good. Trieu’s brother, also a refugee, had come to Seattle in 1986. He sponsored Trieu and his family’s resettlement in the U.S. 

“I’m very grateful to America for giving my wife and me an opportunity to work and to get a good education for our kids,” Trieu says.

He dreams of exploring more of America. His list includes skiing at Snoqualmie Pass and a California vacation. “In America, if you follow the rules of the road the police won’t pull you over,” he says. “In Vietnam, I used to get pulled over for a bribe no matter what I did.”

Trieu stays close to family, spending time with the kids when he can and visiting with his brother frequently. In his free time he spends hours tending his garden, and you guessed it, cleaning and organizing the house.