Designing dessert menus to perk up coffee sales

Nation's Restaurant News, April 1, 1996 by Mort Hochstein

The featured specialty coffee at Les Nomades in Chicago is Aged Indonesian, a spicy brew with hints of cocoa, prepared at table in a press pot for $5. But it might not be around next month. Chef Christopher Koetke constantly is trying new tastes, and he may have discovered a new variety that will mate well with one of his innovative desserts.

Waiters advise diners to try the Indonesian coffee with Koetke's chocolate Provencal torte accompanied by rosemary ice cream. The coffee picks up the deep chocolate of the torte and the spiciness of the rosemary ice cream in what Koetke describes as "an awesome mating." Another recent pairing, "equally awesome," was Sanani Ethiopian coffee complementing a kummel-cardamom mousse topped with date cream.

The press pot coffees change frequently, but customers are not limited to the coffee du jour. They can choose from a house blend, cappuccino, espresso, decaf espresso and Turkish at lower prices, $2 to $3. Koetke also lists 10 teas, all imported from Paris, brewed from loose leaves and strained at table.

Designer coffees? Have we come to that situation so soon? No, not really. Les Nomades is out on the leading edge, probing just what the customer will go for, and the early results are promising. The press pot program was initiated less than a year ago and now accounts for about 40 percent of specialty coffee sales. "The people who enjoy it," Koetke says, "are the same people who enjoy fine food and wine.

"Good coffee was always important here," Koetke observes. "The place was noted for having rich brew, far more deeply flavored than what you find at most restaurants, so much so that people would comment on its strength. We've kept that policy, buying the best possible beans and grinding them on premises, and we've expanded the program."

"Take espresso," he continues. "There's an art to making it, and the espresso in nine out of 10 restaurants is usually not very good. It's not as simple as pushing a button, it takes a while to learn the art and you have to make sure the product doesn't change. Your brew depends on the grind, how the coffee was tamped, the humidity and any number of variables. I sample a cup of espresso each night before dinner service just to make sure we're staying on target. Making espresso is a strange thing, definitely an art."

Les Nomades hasn't gone so far as to install a barista, the coffee world's equivalent of a sommelier, a specialist whose primary job is to brew coffee. The chore usually falls to one or two staffers although all members of Koetke's crew have been trained on the imported Italian espresso machines, which stand on the first and second floors of the old brownstone home of Les Nomades. "Most of our staff have been here for many years, and they can all do a good job of brewing coffee. Making drip coffee," Koetke notes, "isn't difficult.

"We've gotten across to our customers the idea of quality coffees made from the best beans. The price doesn't bother them. Just seeing the press pot and smelling the aroma from a nearby table often inspire sales. We tell them that this is the way to savor fine coffee, just as you might a fine Bordeaux or Burgundy. The press is good for almost two cups, and when they drink it, they understand it's not your average cup of coffee.

"Coffee in this country has been treated like a second-rate beverage," he continues. "For many customers it's like moving up from a simple vin du pays to a great Burgundy. There is a difference, and when people are exposed to good coffee, they appreciate the difference."

As a chef, Koetke particularly enjoys pairing coffees with desserts. "Often I'll design a dish around the coffee available and work with the servers so that they can explain what makes the press coffee particularly good with a specific dessert," he observes. "We like to apply the wine and food analogy. It's really uncanny, how certain coffees have such great affinities with desserts."