Sabbath Coffee Tour: Chicago Edition. Dollop Coffee Bar: Gold Coast

Also on my trip to Chicago I visited Dollop Coffee Bar, at their Gold Coast location, just a couple blocks off where Michigan Avenue meets Lakeshore Drive. This coffee bar is located on the first floor of a luxury condo tower, with the coffee shop entrance on the south side of the building.

Dollop brews Metropolis Coffee which is roasted in Chicago. I ordered an Au Lait made with the Honduras Mario Doreteo Perez roast and non-fat milk. It was warm and rich and delicious.  Au Laits (made with brewed coffee) usually require sugar for my taste, but this one did not.  It was bold and complex.  My wife had a latte made with Redline Espresso.

This neighborhood coffee shop was bustling on a holiday morning (New Year's Day) with people out walking their dogs and enjoying breakfast.  A popular item (although we did not sample it) was the breakfast sandwich, made on an English muffin with a variety of ingredients.

This coffee shop has a bit of a strange layout (most seating is in a bar along the front window), and the only way that you could sit across from the person you came with is in the small seating area composed of chairs and a couch. Since this was a pleasure trip, not a working trip, to a coffee shop Dollop worked great for my time of relaxation. Since there are no tables, it would not work well for laptops.

Sabbath Coffee Tour: Chicago Edition; Intelligentsia at Millenium Park

While I was on vacation, I took my coffee tour to Chicago.  At the recommendation of my good friend Eric, I checked out Intelligentsia at Millennium Park.  I enjoyed a Black Cat Macchiato.  The Black Cat Espresso is an initiative put forth by Intelligentsia to create exquisite, single origin, espressos.  This Macchiato was delicious.  Intelligentsia roasts all of their beans at a central Roasting Works in Chicago.

This Coffee Shop is located just off the Red Line "L" near Millennium Park (Lake street stop), an easy walk from Lakeshore Dr, the Loop, or the Magnificent Mile.

The coffee shop was fairly crowded when I was there, so I sat at the bar near the pour over work station. There are just about eight tables and a few chairs at the bar, so seating is not plentiful.  I could not locate any outlets.

This coffee bar is fairly bustling, due to its location and large amounts of foot traffic on the street outside. This atmosphere, and also the limited seating, makes it perhaps not the best choice for working.  However, it is an excellent place for settling down with a cup of coffee and enjoying conversation, which is exactly what I did.

I was reading a provocative book on death (another part of my free time as a chaplain) and the man sitting next to me struck up a conversation. It turns out he was a Lutheran pastor in Boston, returning home to visit his family in Chicago.

The coffee was delicious, the baristas were skilled and friendly, and the atmosphere was warm.  Great job Intelligentsia!