The Good Stuff

Owner of The (moved and improved) Good Stuff, Ken Kordich and I have been friends for years. Lately, Ken’s been putting a tremendous effort into the store’s new location, and now offers coffee. I thought I knew the guy pretty well, but a few days ago when I stopped to say hello, he pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Who would have guessed Ken knows his way around making a cappuccino? Like, really knows his way around making a cappuccino.

So we’re sitting at one of the tables right by a window, hanging out, catching up and listening to a jazz record. Ken has a fondness for and sells vinyl records, and we get talking about the relative merits of analog and digital recordings, a subject on which I’m basically clueless. Ok, maybe that’s overdoing it. I did have a record player, no, a turntable and a collection of LP’s, but after it sat in the attic for twenty years, I gave it all to my brother-in-law. So I’ll upgrade from clueless to a skosh out of touch.

Ken points out there’s a range of sounds you get listening to a recording on vinyl that’s missing in an mp3 file. I’ve heard this before and don’t doubt it, but what’s the big deal? I’m happy with just hitting the play button. Besides, LP’s scratch and warp, and there’s dust and… He goes on to describe the indistinct middle ground between sounds, and springs the word “finesse” on me. The word settles in my mind. Finesse. It’s a quality of doing things which does seem sorely lacking in our culture.

A stream of customers come and go. Ken asks me if I’d like a coffee. It’s so nice hanging out here, sure that’d be great. So he gets up, and seeing how the record we’ve been listening to is just about finished, he picks out another one and slides it out of the cover. Ken looks it over, sprays it with some cleaning fluid and carefully wipes it with a special towel. I watch him, a little wistful, remembering the same ritual from long ago. In short order we’re listening to country.

Turns out there are choices in the coffee department. I was thinking just a cup of joe, but Ken goes through the menu. Espresso, latte, Americano, cap… oh, stop right there. A cappuccino please. That’s what I’ll have. Done well, this is my favorite. Ken mentions his espresso beans are from Danesi Caffé, a relatively small roaster in Italy. I see. Clearly, he is not fooling around.

Ken fills the little thingy (technical term) with freshly ground coffee and tamps it down. He then puts the thingy in the espresso machine, places a cup under the spout and down comes the hot dark coffee. Ken shows me the delicate crema on top. (Where he learned all this, I wonder… but that’s another story.) It’s beautiful. In the mean time he steams a small pitcher of milk, and when it’s ready, holding back the foam, he pours just the right amount of milk into the cup. Then he scoops out the finishing touch, the foam on top. The crema finds its way up around the perimeter of the foam.

Writing this, I’m beginning to salivate.

The cup is white porcelain, it is oval in profile. Looking down on the matching saucer, it is also an oval. It is an elegant ensemble. And the aroma… mm… rich. And the taste… is sublime. Ken sits down across the table. I am in heaven. He’s looking pretty satisfied, as he well should.

A woman comes in with her son, who is about ten years old. The boy immediately zeros in on the portable record player on the countertop. The record turns, the tone arm gently rises and falls as it tracks the groove. And the voice of Willie Nelson croons from the box. He is fascinated, his mom smiles and says he’s never seen one before. Studying it all for some minutes, the wheels must be turning in his head. It’s great to see him so absorbed with it.

But in with the new, and out with the old, right? Well, not so fast there Bub. I’ve been reminded there’s value beyond mere romanticism in the rituals and details. The level of care and attention Ken pays to these details in the world of cappuccino and vinyl … it’s called finesse. He’s definitely on to something you just can’t get hitting the play button.

Gordon Bunker

The Good Stuff, Established 2009

401 West San Francisco St. (on the corner of Guadalupe)

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

www.thegoodstuffsantafe.com

505-795-1939

Café, baked goods, records, books, sunglasses & t-shirts. Lunch options in the future.