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Barista Frank Monzo and Boku founder Ryan Fitzgerald<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This kind of agile maneuvering explains why Boku\u2019s original logo was an octopus. \u201cOctopi can get in and out of anything. They can adapt themselves to any situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fabrizio Verga of Yours Truly Coffee<\/a> in NYC first introduced Fitzgerald to the wider world of coffee. \u201cHe\u2019s like a brother to me and 100% responsible for my interest in coffee.\u201d Fitzgerald started out with a hacked Gaggia<\/a> from the 80s, replumbing the water tank himself and hooking the machine to a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller to get consistent water temperatures. This kind of mad scientist behavior isn\u2019t new for him. \u201cI wish my parents were here to talk about it. I destroyed a lot of electronics.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he started to get more serious about the coffee component of Boku, he turned a coat closet into a (home) coffee bar to inspire jealousy. Floral wallpaper and a pink neon sign that reads \u201cSLAY ALL DAY\u201d are the backdrop to the crown jewels: a single-group Slayer<\/a> and a Mahlk\u00f6nig EK43<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He also brought on local barista Frank Monzo, who loves the setup. \u201cIt\u2019s a playground.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The equipment is key to their precise, unique coffee service. \u201c[The Slayer] allows me to make what I\u2019m serving more expressive,\u201d says Monzo. \u201cIt allows me to tailor the machine to the coffee as opposed to vice versa.\u201d Likewise, they use Mahlk\u00f6nig\u2019s EK instead of the PEAK because they\u2019re tailoring every shot, every cup of coffee, rather than trying to perform at volume. They\u2019ve chosen to carry Onyx Coffee Lab<\/a> for their service.<\/p>\n

And perhaps more importantly, it\u2019s a very intimate service. \u201cFirst and foremost, it\u2019s my apartment,\u201d says Fitzgerald. Three-quarters of people don\u2019t know that, but when they get here I tell them, and that\u2019s very disarming.\u201d<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t have to worry about being crowd-pleasers, and their guests are much more willing to go along with their experiments than they might be in their usual coffee shop. \u201cMy favorite part of it is how different it is from working in a cafe setting,\u201d says Monzo. Eating breakfast this close to their barista seems to break down some of the scripts they have about caffeine acquisition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been so much more engagement in this setting about specialty from people who aren\u2019t specialty-aligned,\u201d says Monzo. \u201cEvery week we have a person say, \u2018I didn\u2019t know coffee could taste this way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The format gives them the space to be patient and welcoming, and this allows them to provide a high-level coffee service while avoiding making people feel overwhelmed or unwelcome.<\/p>\n

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A few months ago, Fitzgerald started experimenting with wildly eclectic ice cream for his dinner service, including \u201cGod Mode\u201d pints inspired by a locally-roasted coffee. Fitzgerald cold steeps whole coffee beans in the ice cream base, then adds ingredients to recreate the individual coffee\u2019s flavor notes.\u00a0 \u201cLet the Q graders go wild. They want to call it mid-season Meyer lemon? Let me go find some mid-season Meyer lemons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now Boku is evolving once again. The ice cream was such a success that Fitzgerald has spun it into its own business: <\/span>1-900-ICE-CREAM<\/span><\/a>. With orders selling out as fast as he can make them, he has stopped dinner and breakfast service. It\u2019s the end of one chapter of Fitzgerald\u2019s culinary journey and the beginning of a new one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Derek Beyer is a freelance journalist based in Philadelphia. This is Derek Beyer\u2019s first feature for Sprudge.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of\u00a0Ryan Fitzgerald.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Inside Boku, Philadelphia\u2019s Art Gallery & Coffee Bar Inside An Apartment<\/a> appeared first on Sprudge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\nSource: Coffee News<\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"