David Landsel, who has been covering national coffee shops for Food & Wine for the past two years, has grown critical of the country’s espresso-making skills, so he decided to test his knowledge at local café, Mom ‘n ‘Em.
Landsel has known owners Austin and Tony Ferrari for a few years, back when their only shop was Provender Coffee in San Francisco. Since then, they’ve moved back to Cincinnati (and were profiled as part of our coffee house series back in February) and have developed a cult following among people who love both great coffee and wine.
Landsel’s verdict? The job was harder than he thought but after a few hours (and a few failed attempts), he made a decent latte and developed a deeper appreciation for the amount of work that goes into good coffee.
“The Ferrari brothers have created one of the very best all-day cafes I’ve seen, out of a sizable recent crop — unlike too many of the others, it doesn’t try to do everything, but what it does, it does exceptionally well,” he says.
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