Strawberry mango moothie, Revolutions Coffee
(Post-workout smoothie today...but the coffee is great here, too!)
Woohoo, at long last, the return of Cup o' Joe Mondays! This week, I decided to revisit a favorite that I haven't blogged about yet, despite really enjoying it every time I've been here. Revolutions Coffee is located up in Greenlake - happily, in close proximity to the lovely Vera Fitness, an all women's wellness studio and gym where I've begun doing personal(ish) training sessions regularly. Did an intense power hour this morning, then came over here to get back in touch with my old Monday tradition...
Revoutions Coffee has an odd mix of an interior: three of the four interior walls are brightly painted, while one is just plain, gray, unceremonious concrete. The floor is also concrete, mixed up with a few colorful shag rugs. Seating ranges from basic tables and chairs to sleek, poofy loveseats to barstools if you want to chat with the friendly, down-to-Earth baristas. Artwork on the walls ranges from framed photos behind the counter to crazy awesome mixed media artwork...
...to a wall of framed album covers to vintage travel posters to a giant print of Snoop Dogg and some other (presumably) rap artist I can't readily identify. Half the seating is close enough to the doors to be flooded with sunlight, the other half tucked away in the dimmer, romantic lighting in the back, complemented by the very bold colors and paints back there.
But here's why this place takes the cake as Best Coffeeshop in the World: it began on Valentine's Day, when Ruth was visiting me in Seattle. I needed to get some writing for the magazine done but also wanted to show Ruth Greenlake, so we drove up north to plunk down for a few hours in the spacious but cozy Revolutions. First of all, they've offered free cookie samples 2 of the 3 times I've been here. This alone is enough to bump it into Seriously Awesome territory...but then, when the samples had successfully convinced Ruth and I that we needed to get a couple cookies, the girl behind the counter couldn't get two cookies unstuck from each other - so she just shrugged, smiled and gave us a free extra cookie. Seriously seriously Awesome.
Then, the real clincher: after leaving Revolutions, Ruth and I drove to the International District to pick up ingredients for our sushi night. We got to the checkout line, and I reached into my backpack for my wallet - only to find that it was missing. I've been carrying it in a mildly accessible-from-behind-me pocket in my backpack - stupid, but I guess I've just never felt too worried about getting pickpocketed in Seattle. I ran out to my car, checking to see if it had fallen out on the seat there...nope. Called back to Revolutions to ask if I'd left my wallet there; the guy looked around the table I'd been sitting at and said sadly over the phone that there was no wallet.
Discouraged and convinced that it had been stolen, I proactively called to cancel my bank card and credit card and order new ones. Spent probably about 45 minutes collectively on hold with different banks to get the job done...thank goodness for Ruth being calm and supportive in my moments of freaking out! Finally feeling calmed down (though seriously bummed about the cash I'd lost, having just gone to the ATM that very morning...as well as my newly minted Washington state driver's license and some Iraqi currency I keep in my wallet that my soldier I used to write letters to through Soldiers' Angels sent me last year), I sat back in my apartment and took a deep breath.
And then my phone rang.
An unfamiliar 206 (Seattle) phone number. I picked up, and it turned out to be a guy at the local Blockbuster. Bummer! I thought. The last thing I need right now is some sales pitch, or a forgotten late fee that I owe... But behold! He said the following: "Hey, a guy from Revolutions Coffee just gave us a call. They found your wallet, but didn't have your phone number, so he went through your cards, found your Blockbuster card, and asked us to give you a call and let you know they've got your wallet for you!"
Turns out some lady had literally been sitting on top of my wallet when I'd called before to have the guy check our table for it, so he hadn't found it until the lady got up and left. But seriously...what a hero! It's amazing when people go out of their way for a perfect stranger...
= Why Revolutions Coffee is the best place in the world.
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