more lamplighter roasting company

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!