La Colombe's Construction Of Their New Fishtown Megacafe

March 25, 2014, Exterior, La Colombe Fishtown

September 5, Exterior La Colombe Fishtown

Back in October local Philly roaster La Colombe announced that they were breaking ground on a major new project. Within the inside a former warehouse in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, La Colombe has been building their new flagship rum distillery, bakery and coffee shop. Throughout the winter, partners Todd Carmichael and Jean Philippe Iberti have been busy overseeing the design and construction of the huge 16,000 square foot space.  Todd calls the 150 seat cafe "JP's opus" and also has a cupping room,  sixty-meter German still, and bread oven (the retail bakery is headed by Parc veteran John McGrath)

March 6, 2014: In the beginning...the raw space

When I initially checked out the raw space, I was struck by the size and scope of the project. It's one of the most ambitious cafe build outs I've ever seen. I decided to follow the progress of the construction, photographing the interior every few weeks.   Using a method I've perfected through trial and error, each 180 degree panorama is a composite of 20-30 iPhone still images that are stitched together with the app AutoStitch.  After Snapseed enhancements and conversion to black and white, I finished each image in Lightroom and Photoshop.

March 19, 2014

May 7, 2014 Concrete laid, ductwork

June 5, 2014 Frameout

September 15, 2014: A Few Days Before Opening

Partners Carmichael and Iberti are not resting on their laurels.  The company has just secured $28.5 million in new financing for cafe expansion and Todd informed me that his TV show Dangerous Grounds is soon getting a rebrand (details are still being worked out but it should be more expansive in scope).

August 5, 2014, The Rum Still

Links

CoffeeGuru features over 7,000 independent coffeehouses in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland. Download the app here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffeeguru-indie-coffeehouses/id547969523?mt=8

Blog Post, Todd Carmichael, The Coffee Macgyver

 La Colombe

"A Cafe For Their Crafts" by Michael Klein

"La Colombe Secures $28.5 Million Investment" by Roast Magazine

"Dangerous Grounds", The Travel Channel

Photography Around Philly

Checking out the coffee culture in Philadelphia I often stubble upon visually arresting places that encapsulate the uniqueness and character of this city.  Here are a few that I shot recently.

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

The Navy Yard, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Naval Business Center, was an important naval shipyard for over a century. It is now a large industrial park that includes a commercial shipyard, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard.

Spring, Rittenhouse Square

Point Breeze

Philadelphia Trolley

Philadelphia's first trolley line began in 1923.  At its height there were six routes servicing the city.  Currently three remain serving North and Northeast Philly.

Next To I-95

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360 Coffeehouses Part III

Philadelphia is quickly becoming one of the premier coffee cities in the United States.  New roasters such as Rival Bros, Elixr and ReAnimator are rasing the bar and baristas are following suit.  Just a few weeks ago in the Northeast Brewers Cup six finalists competed in North Carolina, three of whom are from Philly.  Todd Carmichael,  co-founder and green buyer for La Colombe took first place and Ultimo's James Klapp came in second.  Philly local Erica Vonie came in second place in the NE Barista Championship.  This week three more 360 degree immersive coffee destinations are featured in my blog.

Jonathan Adams, Rival Bros Coffee

Click here for a 360 immersive view: https://www.thesphere.com/308054

Jonathan Adams and Damien Pileggi started serving their in-house roasted coffee out of a truck in West Philadelphia just about a year ago.  Their first brick and mortar location opens next month.

 Federal Donuts, Original Location

Click here for a 360 immersive view: https://www.thesphere.com/295573

Federal Donuts is recognized as one of the best donut shops in the US.  It is jointly owned by Tom Henneman and Bob Logue from Bodhi Coffee and Steve Cook and Michael Solomonov of Zahav Restaurant.  Currently there are two locations with two more opening in a few weeks.

Bodhi Coffee, Philadelphia

Click here for a 360 immersive view: https://www.thesphere.com/295157

I love the exterior of Bodhi Coffee!   It's part of Philadelphia's historic Headhouse Square built in 1775.

Bonus 360: St. Peter's

St. Peter's, Philadelphia

Click here for a 360 immersive view: https://www.thesphere.com/291781

Built in 1761, St. Peter's the land was donated in 1757 by Governor Thomas and Ricard Penn, sons of William Penn. The Penn family coat of arms can be seen above the wine-glass pulpit and sounding board. George and Martha Washington were frequent parishioners.

Links

CoffeeGuru features over 7,000 independent coffeehouses in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland. Download the app here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffeeguru-indie-coffeehouses/id547969523?mt=8

Rival Bros. Coffee

Federal Donuts

Bodhi Coffee

ReAnimator Coffee Roasters

Elixr Coffee

360 Degree Coffeehouses

 Shot Tower Coffee, Philadelphia

Click here for a 360 view: Shot Tower Coffee

Recently I downloaded an iPhone app called "Sphere".  After taking a maximum of 40 photographs from within the application, Sphere stitches them together for a fully immersive web view.  While I like the app on its own, it has its limitations.  I find that 40 images are not enough for a full 360 view and unless you use a tripod with a panoramic head, Sphere sometimes has a hard time lining up some of the frames.  This is especially evident when shooting a space with people.

Snowstorm, ReAnimator Coffee

Click here for a 360 view: Snowstorm, ReAnimator

After much trial and error, I find that working with a number of applications, both iPhone and Mac and shooting individual images before stitching enhances the end result.  I start by taking between 60-80 photographs with my iPhone camera.  Next I use AutoStitch to combine the images.  Then I enhance the image and make corrections in Snapseed, Lightroom and Photoshop.  Finally I finish the image in Sphere.

Inside ReAnimator, Philadelphia 

Click here for a 360 view: Inside ReAnimator

Check out the 360 views of these coffeehouses and give me some feedback.  Is there anyone else using Sphere?  Do you have any tips or suggestions?

Tela's Market, Philadelphia

Click here for a 360 view: Tela's Market, Philadelphia

Tela's Market, Philadelphia

Click here for a 360 view: Tela's Market, Philadelphia

Bonus View: Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, St Lucia

Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, St Lucia

Click here for a 360 view: Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

A few weeks ago I was in Castries, St Lucia (yeah I know it's a rough life) and discovered the most amazing Catholic church, the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.  It's the largest church in the Caribbean, built in 1899.  The wood interior is a sight to behold, with a spectacular mural painted by Dustan St. Omer.

Links

CoffeeGuru features over 7,000 independent coffeehouses in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland. Download the app here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coffeeguru-indie-coffeehouses/id547969523?mt=8

Shot Tower Coffee

ReAnimator

Tela's Market

Bethlehem Pennsylvania, Embodying the Poetry Of Decay

Introduction- What does this week's post have to do with Coffee? Nothing at all! I'll return to coffee related posts next week. I was inspired by my visit to Bethlehem PA and want to share my thoughts and photographs. I hope you enjoy them.

A few days ago I traveled to Bethlehem, PA to pour wine at a food and wine festival at the Sand's Casino. Driving to the casino I passed through the town that had seen better days. Small, dilapidated houses line the streets, leading me to the top of a hill where suddenly below there's a huge factory taking up most of the horizon. It's an impressive sight, filled with multiple buildings and smoke stacks... a vast behemoth. I could immediately tell this monstrous mill has seen better days. Altough the blast furnaces stopped working back in 1992 and the plant folded in bankruptcy nine years later, a large portionof the facility still stands, a rusty shell of it's formar self. It's a vast complex covering over 4.5 acres.

The $700 million dollar Sands Casino hotel and convention complex stands on the site of the former ore pit of the old Bethlehem Steel Plant. That was my destination for the day. A wine and food festival was being held inside their event center and I was tasked to pour for a few hours. After setting up I slipped away to check out the casino floor. The Sands opened in 2009 and the hallway smelled like it hasn't been cleaned since then. I went up the escalators and into the main casino.

Altough it was Saturday afternoon, very few people were in the casino itself. The place seemed to reek of flop-sweat and desperation. A few people, mostly senior citizens and asians, listlessly fed the slots, chained smoked and stared blankly at the slot machines. I left after a few minutes.

Walking back to the event center, I passed by an indoor outlet mall, about a hundred yards from the casino floor. There were multiple shops filled with clothing, jewlery, electronics and the like. Not a living soul was shopping. It felt something apocalyptic happened and reminded me of the decay just outside the building. After four hours pouring wine, the day's responsibilities were finished and I left the building to explore the remains of the mill.



The mill itself takes up several city blocks and there's two complexes with a bisecting street. On the one side the mill looks like a vast ship with rust towers, pipes and walkways. The middle of the mill has been torn down, making way for a street, the casino, local PBS station, bandshell, and museum.

What was once the rolling mill resides on the other side of the street. Both sides are protected by fencing which I suppose protects the public from any sudden collapses or falling debris.

It's a bizarre sight. The whole thing reminded me of what I imagine Chernobyl or a factory abandoned after a disaster would look like after decaying for a few decades. Although on the one hand it's depressing.... like an ancient momento mori it reminds me of death, on the other there's a certain beauty to this slow distruction that aestically captivates. This fascination of the "Poetry of Decay" or "Ruin Porn" has been an inspiration for artists and writers for many decades. But what I found particularly interesting is the irony of the slow decay inside the casino contrasting with nature's decay just outside the windowless rooms.

   

Failed Architecture: The Poetry of Decay

http://failedarchitecture.com/2013/03/the-poetry-of-decay/

Reckoning With Ruins

http://phg.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/11/27/0309132512462271.abstract

Detroit Ruin Porn And The Fetish For Decay

http://hyperallergic.com/16596/detroit-ruin-porn/

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