Crosswords!

My increasingly carb-free lifestyle can make a little room for this.

You know how sometimes two things are better when you smoosh them together? I mean, that's definitely one of our priorities. I am still jonesing pretty hard for our Bluecoat and blueberry sorbetto, but that's gonna be a minute obviously. Blood orange will do nicely in the meantime.

(Obligatory mildly odd, perhaps totally unrelated youtube clip that maybe doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand. COMBINATIONS, PEOPLE! Bears and frogs, coming together magically.)


So we get our rippin' good brioche from Au Fournil fresh every morning. Brioche is a sweet bun that's been made way, way better by the addition of all the butter and eggs the dough can stand--pretty much SuperBread. It's of course great on its own with a little warming, and you can't go wrong by using it as a vehicle for debatably appropriate amounts of Nutella or jam. It's the breakfast of lazy video game champions! But then there's us. We're always the ones who stand around, look at all the good stuff we have on hand and think about how we can combine all of those good stuffs into even more good stuff that's maybe greater than the sum of our parts. So, our gelato. It's okay. Y'know. We're pretty proud of it. So here's what we'll do for you: we'll take one of the already stellar brioches, whack it in half, and toast it. And then. THEN. Well, this:

Gelato con Brioche, yeah? I made this one with Cioccolato Scuro, but any of your nuts will do. Or white chocolate, if you're feeling that. Or burnt sugar. Bananas foster wouldn't make me mad. Shoot, it's your dessert. You want to do grapefruit campari sorbetto with it, I'd be delighted to whip it up for you. So. If you're feeling like you're stuck in a rut gelato-wise, there ya go. Wicked!

Bloody 'Ell This Is Good Sorbetto.

Well it's about that time mates. We've had many folks wondering when we were getting in blood oranges. They are here and they are brilliant! If it's not your cup of tea, which I don't see how it couldn't be, we have golden kiwi to satisfy your fancy fruit cravings. You healthy types would be pleased to know blood oranges are packed with antioxidants and vitamin C. We use Moro blood oranges, which are the brightest and most colorful of the types. We also serve this seasonal delight in juice form. If you are 21, or 18 in England, you should try taking a few pints home and pairing the blood orange sorbetto with a good wheat beer. Did you know if you're between the ages of 5 & 17 in England you can drink with permission from your parent? Any who, come in and indulge yourself with some seasonal delights. Until then, you can watch Dexter doing his daily routine which includes juicing a blood orange. Blood oranges are the bees knees with those vigilante characters. Ta ta for now!

Capogiro Fraiche

What’s a Kumquat?

A good question indeed.  One you might soon find yourself asking at the gelato case at 13th street Capogiro.  Creme Fraiche and Honeyed Kumquat Gelato.  First let’s explain the Creme Fraiche.  Here’s Randy Marsh for the explanation:

 

If that wasn’t clear enough, Creme Fraiche is a type of gourmet sour cream that is sweeter than average.  It has a pH of around 4.5 and contains butterfat, which makes it sweeter than regular American sour cream.  To better understand Creme Fraiche, please follow this link:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e14-creme-fraiche

Now for Kumquats.  Long cultivated in Asia, Kumquats are basically smaller, sweeter, oranges.  The rinds of normal oranges are normally too bitter to be enjoyed by themselves but the rinds of kumquats are sweeter and even more delicious when honeyed and mixed in with delicious creme fraiche gelato. Keep your eye out for it and grab a sample, it is extremely good.

In other news, BLOOD ORANGE IS BACK!!!  I can’t count how many requests for blood orange sorbetto I have had through the summer and fall.  It is finally here and you can probably expect to see it often.  Other new and interesting flavors include Candied Chestnut gelato and Persimmon sorbetto.

<3 Tori

Everyone needs a little nagging round about resolution time

Hey it's the new year! WICKED. It's early and of COURSE it's only now that the cold weather decides to settle in. But didn't I see you at the Mummers the other day? You went, right? I did prettttty firmly suggest that you finally make it to your first Mummers parade. C'mon, don't bail on your resolutions THAT fast! If you resolved to go to the parade this year and didn't make it...I dunno, man. I dunno.

But the beginning of the year is one of the best times around Capogiro way. You know we change our flavors out as the year goes on, and there's really sort of a nice pattern to it. It seems like as we get further past fall and into the holiday season, there are a particular set of flavors that really signify all that--your zucca, your King Leo stracciatella. Cold weather stuff that makes you think of pie and candy canes and spoiling the littler members of your family.

But now we've turned the corner. Know how I know? I've officially heard the first rumor of blood oranges. Best sorbetto ever? Mmmmm...could be. Could be. I might have to hold out for blueberry and Bluecoat Gin, but that's definitely a summer flavor and not at all helping my argument that winter's a solidly awesome time of year for sorbetto. But it is! Now I'm left wondering if we can't do something with Bluecoat and blood orange...

Don't get your hopes TOO high, though. I know we don't yet have our blood oranges yet. Maybe by this weekend? MAYBE. I wouldn't want to make you hollow promises, but trust that we'll be tweeting loud and proud once they show up for real. Follow our twitter feed! @CapogiroPenn has to be the most entertaining frozen aweseomeness-related twitter feed going.

So. You're not already sliding on what you promised yourself, right? Get some momentum going! And if a little espresso is what you need to get moving, well. You know where to find us.

We've made it!!

Well despite the "Mayan Doomday," holiday shopping, travel insanity, fiscal cliffs, getting wasty-faced on New Years Eve, and the Mummers annual takeover of Broad Street and most of South Philly it seems that everyone at Capogiro has survived and we are already 2 days into the new year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and spend as much time as possible with your friends, families, and loved ones.  I myself gained a new family member this past Thursday.  Little Patrick Robert O'Connell is the first O'Connell gentleman born in over 23 years and we are all very excited to have him.  His older sister Lily is turning 3 next week and is also very excited to have a younger brother she can fight with in the coming years.

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and don't forget to keep on stopping by and seeing what fun flavors 2013 may bring for us all.  

Sean

New Year's Resolutions Worth Keeping

I mean, we all want to start the year off with the best of intentions, right? I'm totally going to keep a budget! And lose ten pounds by March! And start writing thank you notes for holiday and birthday gifts! YEAH!

Sure, dog. GOOD LUCK WITH ALL THAT. I don't really get why we collectively decide that it has to be January 1st before we'll start taking all those steps to make the good changes to our lives. (Don't get me wrong, I'm TOTALLY as guilty of this as everyone else.)

So why not set yourself up for success? Pick resolutions that won't be so onerous to keep up with that come February 9th you're already feeling guilty. (Look out, some of these might actually be serious suggestions.)

#1: It's high time you did the Mummers. Yeah, I'm lookin' at you. You've lived in Philadelphia for HOW LONG? And you've never rousted your butt out of bed on New Years Day to join your fellow citizens in conspicuous public daydrinking? C'mon, man. I promise the intersection of Broad and Washington is never more cheerful. (I'll cop to maybe contributing to a distinct LACK of cheer at that intersection when I'm on my bike. It can be a little adversarial some days.) Fortify yourself with a substantial breakfast--it's pretty much THE day for scrapple and pork roll--and hop on the BSL with the rest of us. It's your duty as a Philadelphian! I'll save you some (scandalously) cheap sparkling wine and we'll meet for a late Mexican lunch.

#2: Eat more avocado. Jeeeeeeeez our avocados are so good right now. I mean, we're pretty adept at managing avocados generally, but it's more difficult than you might think. Seriously, though. Our avocados are right in that sweet spot, so you should come in today for a bagel. Today! I can't make promises about tomorrow. (We'll still have plenty of delightful avocados tomorrow.)

#3: Adopt a fugly dog. Loogit this guy:
      I'm not going to take the easy way out and tell you that's a face only a mother could love (though...crikey. That's a mug, inn'it?). My point is that there are a ton of dogs and cats out there who aren't altogether the most aesthetically pleasing little boogers. But that's not important to you! You're only motivated by giving some poor but lovable (and loving!) little beastie a good home. Right? Right. So. Do that! They'll love you forever.

#4: Play bingo with our seasonal flavors. Like, if you time it right you can probably get persimmon knocked off early without having to wait until next December. And think of the fabulous prizes you'll get when you win! (Suddenly occurring to me that I now need to come up with fabulous prizes for this game. Also...maybe something like a bingo board. Lemme get back to you.)

#5: Help me make 2013 The Year Of The Sausage. Bacon had its moment, and that was fine. It's a tasty meat, I've nothing against it. But I never really understood the bacon fixation (the baconation, if you will). Even bacon as awesome as ours is pretty one-dimensional. But sausage! SO MANY SAUSAGES. Blood sausage! Breakfast sausage! Hot dogs! Hot Italian! Knockwurst! Mortadella! Kielbasa! Seriously, why let bacon be the pork fat standard bearer? It's time to expand our sausage-y horizons. I'm not talking about gimmicky weirdness like sausage-flavored mayonnaise or lip balm or any of that nonsense. But how about a bloody mary with a summer sausage swizzle stick? Or a pizza with a sausage-stuffed crust? BLOOD SAUSAGE CORN DOGS. (For the vegetarians out there, if you want to make it the year of the nut loaf you have my full-throated support.)

#6: Keep a $5 Wawa gift card in your pocket. For my part, I am actually going to try to do this. I'm a pretty soft touch, and when someone on the street asks me for some help getting something to eat, I want to be able to respond. But then there's the whole debate about, if you give them cash, what they're actually going to spend the money on. So: give them a Wawa gift card (and eye contact and a smile).

So. All in all, do whatever's in your power to make your 2013 better than your 2012, regardless (actually--ESPECIALLY) if your 2012 was pretty awesome. From us and ours to you and yours, Happy New Year, Feliz Año Nuevo, best warm wishes, and ever a hope for peace.

This? Just my soapbox. Gimme a minute...

Listen, I'd HAVE to get on a soapbox to read off the list of reasons why you should only patronize independent espresso bars. It'd be one of those scenes where I'd untie the scroll and it'd roll past my knees, past the soapbox, and into the (hypothetical and unlikely) crowd gathered around to hear my screed.

I've worked for Big Coffee before (not entirely voluntary. Long story). It wasn't altogether the most uplifting experience. For one thing, I died a little inside every time I had to make a non-fat decaf caramel macchiato with extra syrup and whipped cream (oh, can you make that sugar-free?). I could never remember if I was supposed to swirl the caramel sauce (distinct from the caramel syrup) or draw a cross-hatch pattern. So when I came on at Capogiro and found out that they (we) only serve a traditional, simple Italian espresso menu, it was like a ray of sunlight beaming down on my otherwise relatively curmudgeonly heart. 

(Another major plus is that I can randomly drop videos of bulldogs bouncing on trampolines into my blog posts without any real rhyme or reason. Bulldog on a trampoline!)
And then, you know. I was living and making espresso in Seattle, and the organization for which I was working decided that the best course of action over the long term would be to shift all their espresso bars from using real espresso machines to fully automatic espresso machines. IN SEATTLE. Still haven't really gotten over the wrong-headedness of that. We take our espresso seriously at Capogiro--you know that. We put a lot of time, thought, and effort into training our baristi. It's difficult and it's on-going, but it's worth it. We'd rather give our baristi the training, tools, and ingredients to make awesome, real drinks. To actually CRAFT something worth savoring for a few minutes, as opposed to hiding your mediocrity under a blanket of corn syrup and artificial colors. For sure it can take a newcomer to one of our stores a minute to adapt.

But really the inspiration of this blog post--what I'm up on my soapbox about today--is this. What you've got there is a story out of Seattle about how a regional coffee chain there is looking at a hostile takeover (my interpretation, maybe not entirely accurate) by a group of out-of-towners who's mission is to have their crews dress trashy. Now, listen. I've got nothing against people dressing trashy if that's their wont. You do you! No issue with that. And trashy is for sure subjective, and my trashy might be your subtle. It's fine! Really. Really!

But when your employer EXPECTS it of you? Who gauges your value as an employee based on your perceived attractiveness and tendency to put yourself on bodily display? I sort of can't go any further with it because it leaves me pretty grossed out. I'm a son, a brother, an uncle, a boss, and a friend, and I wouldn't want any of the women in my world to work there. (Do applicants have to do a cat-walk strut as part of their interviews? The mind boggles.)

Listen, you can trust that the people that head the CapoCrews are very serious about making our workplaces welcoming and safe for the people who work for us. We respect and value our crews at least as much as we want them to respect and value themselves. We want individuals working for us, and we want them to feel like they have a fair degree of latitude in expressing that individuality.

Ok. Stepping off of the soapbox. The whole "I'm your boss and I need to you turn around so I can decide if you're dressed trashy enough" thing definitely gets my (Scotch-) Irish up. So degrading, and so indicative of the challenges women STILL face in this world, in the 21st century.

But hey, guess what time it is!




Y'know, I'm a little concerned I might not get to watch ANY of A Christmas Story this year, given my impending travels to see family. Which is not the greatest sacrifice an uncle can make. If you've already had a holiday, I genuinely hope it was full of warmth and joy, and if yours is coming up, I hope that it will be.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Capogiro. The world's a better place with you in it.

The King is Here!

While aesthetically it apparently resembles a scene from a b-list horror movie (it's crime scene appearance might accentuate the broken glass of our gelato case, soon to be repaired!), King Leo Stracciatella could be one of the best Chrismas-centric culinary creations to ever grace my pallet....

The recent staff Christmas party really got me in the Christmas spirit and reminded me of how thankful I am this year!

Thankful that I'm in Philly and very thankful I work for an independent cafe - a world-renowned one at that! Thankful for the artistic freedom, the ability take care of staff and patrons alike with stories worth hearing. I feel that in larger corporations an element is lost - mainly the human element. In many of the corporate environments I've been employed, in people get lost, you lose the license to provide people with what sociologists call a 3rd place. A venue outside of work and home life where people can know and be known....where "everybody knows your name." Which, in a city such as ours, is a rare and beautiful thing, in a culture where people crave connection and  authenticity it is a necessary thing. Call me an idealist...you can take  the boy out of a small Oklahoma  town but I'm proud to say it's harder to eradicate the small town values of genuinely caring about your neighbors and patrons, and the assumption that ever one who is willing to give us patronage is worthy of a genuine smile, an attentive ear and heartfelt attention. Values which I am proud to say we have the ability to exemplify at Capogiro.

So whether you need a warm reprieve from the shopping insanity or a last minute dessert for your get together, drop by and stay a while - there's always a place at the counter for you!

From the bottom of our hearts thanks for making us apart of your tradition and giving us the pleasure of serving you!

Merry Chrisma-Hanna-Kwanzika!

A Festive (and corny) Adaptation of a Christmas Jingle

I was feeling particularly festive and merry after the Capogiro Christmas party last night and composed this silly tune.  Unlimited free samples to whoever comes in and sings it from memory.

Sung to the tune of “Here Comes Santa Claus”

Here comes Santa Claus Here comes Santa Claus
Right down 13th Street
Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer
hungry for a treat
Samplers are sampling, Ron is singing
The gelato case is lit bright
So take a sample and try some flavors
cause Santa Claus eats gelato every night!

Here comes Santa Claus Here comes Santa Claus
Right to Capogiro!
He’ll comes around when there’s gelato in town
and Dulce de Leche’s out!
Peace on Earth will come to all
if we eat gelato under Christmas lights
So let’s give thanks to the lord above
that Capogiro is open tonight!!

 







by Tori Styner