Photo by Patrick Hannan |
Yes, another post about Lamplighter. What can I say? Great things happen at your local coffee shop! And Lamplighter Roasting Company seems to attract even more interesting folks than your average caffeine bar. Every time I go to Lamplighter I leave with a REVELATION and a belly full of delicious vegan food, like the Vandenberghimer Sandwich, honey balsamic glazed tofu with grilled asparagus and sundried tomato pesto on fococcia.
Here are just a few examples:
1. I sat at the communal table across from a man, his
daughter, and her friend. The girls had to be around 9-11 years old. They were
on their laptop, on twitter. On twitter!! Did you know that children use
twitter? They were following Nickelodeon and Taylor Swift. There are twitter
accounts dedicated to communicating with kids, people! This seems both crazy and obvious at the same time.
2. Again at the communal table I overheard two guys talking
about a blog they were working on. Yes, I was eavesdropping. They were talking
about the art of the interview and I just could not help myself. I mean really, what is the point of the
communal table if you can’t listen to people’s conversations? The blog they
were discussing is Suggested Serving. It is a blog about Richmond, but not your
average news topics. They write about semi-obscure
things going on in town like the Unhappy Hour at the Poe Museum and The Glass
Spot glass blowing classes.
3. I had a “coffee” date with one of THE most interesting
people I have met in Richmond, Jennifer Koch. (We actually ordered iced tea and
ginger ale.) She is an absolute gem and inspiring entrepreneur. Her business,
Adventure Often, provides Paris themed tours right here in Richmond, Virginia.
Everyone should sign up for her mailing list and get on one of her tours. I
cannot stress enough how inspiring she is. My favorite thing that she said to
me during our visit to Lamplighter was advice someone once gave her. I am
paraphrasing her words, but the advice was about determining your brand “If you
are going to be ice cream, it does not benefit you to be vanilla. Be something
like pistachio. Not as many people will like you, but some people will LOVE you
and will be passionate about your flavor since they cannot get it just anywhere.”If only they served pistachio ice cream at Lamplighter. I would never have to leave!
OOH I love the glass spot! I went last week to their last demonstration of the summer and literally at in awe as they made/created/sculpted cowboy hat FROM GLASS, from glass I say! Sounds like Jennifer is an awesome and inspiring person. I love talking with others who have been a little further along in the journey, they give great advice.
ReplyDeleteI hear great things about the glass spot. I need to check it out for sure.
DeleteI totally want to go on one of those adventure often tours!!! Let's do a blogger meet up and have her give us a tour!
ReplyDeleteLiz, this is a fantastic idea!
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