further thoughts on food

if you own a cafe and are going to have food-
our if you,too, are a barista and are avoiding the hassles of having to make sandwiches as well as killer espressos-
i can think of "one" exception that works:

*UNIQUE* food.

bear with me:

this "one" exception has multiple incarnations-

1) offer something kitschy- a la- twinkies, ding dongs, lil'debbie holiday cakes, hell- even fruit roll ups.
2) offer something LOCAL- homemade goodies, kick ass doughnuts from the vegan bakery around the corner, etc.
3) offer things in a wacky way- like one of my favorite encountered-on-vacation cafes (the beehive of pittsburg, pa) in a vending machine! not traditional vending machine fare, however. plus they offer goodies like gift certificates, decks of cards, smokes (at least, back in the day), bubbles... you get the picture.

i know. i know. many coffee shops are trying to diversify in this crap-tastic economy to stay afloat. but i think- in the long run- the more a cafe diversifies, the more it shoots ya in the foot. i mean do you REALLY want to make your employees not only sling crema-licious shots but also have to: put on soup, slice bread, make sandwiches, plate orders, warm up said sandwiches, toss salads, arange plates, decorate dessert plates, make milkshakes, and so on and so on and so on???

pretty soon, you won't even focus on the coffee and what's the point then?