A Coffee Break with Stacey Douglas

Tucked away in Haddon Township is Espressit, a cozy little coffee house that has delicious displays of food and coffee. Owner Stacey Douglas can be seen in the kitchen, working away on her next creation. As I sat down during her coffee break, I learned that it was important to her that there was a place where vegans, vegetarians and the rest of the community can come together.

Stacey Douglas, with coffee in hand, stands behind the counter at Espressit in Haddon Township. Photo: Geneva Gerwitz

What inspired you to open the coffee house? What was your motivation?

My motivation was I lost my teaching job as an art teacher. I wanted to combine my different talents, my different interest in art, in food and in coffee. I sort of conjured this concept up and I wanted it in my hometown because I was a single mom. I had a young child and this was doable for me, to get here, to get home and to do it on my own.

Is there a specific reason why you also incorporate vegetarian and vegan food or were you just open to anyone coming in to enjoy the food?

So I have been a vegetarian for 30 years, so it’s the way I live. I have cooked in other places, vegan/vegetarian, so it’s my experienced way of cooking. I feel like that’s not represented very well or very much in places that you go out to eat so particularly around here. There’s salads, a very boring pasta. I wanted to represent that community and I have pretty well stuck to it. Even though there’s a large group of people out there who don’t eat that way, I kind of want to convert them.

What is your most popular item that you sell here?

Well, actually,  it’s not this kind of food [waves over to burrito bar]. We started off doing just baked goods when we first opened up. We were doing scones, muffins, cookies. We did some sandwiches. We started adding soups and then the hot foods, the burritos. We have a few muffins that are favorites: vegan chocolate avocado, the sour cream cardamom, the ginger pear and then I make something called the vegan bar. It’s a soft granola bar with jam inside and that’s a favorite here. We sell it here and we sell it at a health foods store in Collingswood. I would say those are the main baked items. And then burritos, breakfast burritos. We do them with bacon and without bacon. They fly out of here.

I noticed on your website that you get your coffee locally, how did that come about?

So there was a coffee place in Haddonfield, now call Jersey Java and Tea, which was previously called Three Beans and before that it was Seattle’s Best. I had gone there for 12 years as a customer and at that point they were serving La Colombe Coffee so I got used to drinking it. When I opened my place, I was like ‘Oh, I will definitely have that coffee at my place’, even though I didn’t try other coffees to see what was better, this was just what I was just to drinking. I decided to go with that and they were okay with it. You have to get

Sign greeting customers in front of Espressit. Photo: Geneva Gerwitz

the okay with it, you can’t just decide that’s what you want because they have to space out the shops a little bit. Since I’ve been using their coffee, I have tried switching it but people are not happy with that. I’ve had a lot of people approach me, a lot of roasters, a lot of coffee sellers who want me to sell their brand but I’ve really stuck to my guns about La Colombe.

Do you sell a lot of items in health stores because you mentioned that have it at other places?

No, just that one item. I really haven’t marketed that. It’s just a time thing, if I have the time. We will do some catering orders if somebody asks us, we don’t have a catering menu. People will come in ask, ‘Can we have 12 of a certain type of muffin?’ or a variety or can you make me a strada? Or something special like that, so we take special orders.

So is catering something you thought about?

I thought about it and haven’t really done it. The way we’re working here is, how do I say, in the moment, working with what we have. The menu is in our head on a daily basis, we have basic recipes and we have the freedom to change it up based on what is available in shop today. Our muffins, we have a basic muffin ingredient but today we might have apples tomorrow will have bananas. We just play around with that. That keeps it creative for the people working here and cooking and it keeps it interesting for the people eating here. We cook like you cook at home, most people cook at home. Not everybody plans for a whole week. You just cook with what you have.

I noticed on your website that you have open mic night.

We used to do that weekly but now we do that monthly. Once a month on Friday, first Friday. We get a lot of repeat people, customers, musicians, poets.

Besides that, what other kind of events do you have or is open mic your big thing?

Espressit Coffee House in Haddon Township. Photo: Geneva Gerwitz

It’s kind of our thing. We used to participate in the farmers market on a weekly basis. I pulled back and people will come to us is kindof where I’m standing right now. We have some journal writing groups, one in particular, that meets here. A French group, we used to have an Italian group. The other day we had a book group of 12 people. People can call us ahead of time and we’ll reserve a table and they can come in to do their thing.

Do you personally come in everyday to help with the staff?

I come in on different capacities. Wednesdays and Thursdays, I’m the baker. Sometimes I’m in here at 5 and probably until 2:30. I will go out and do the backup runs, so I’m the shopper. I buy all of  the food supplies, I will go to the bank and get the coffee and produce. Usually, I do those runs after. On a day when I’m not cooking, I might come in to close. I’m here everyday, at least once a day.

So you’re really hands on?

Totally. My finger is on every pulse. Which is exhausting.

That’s a lot work but obviously, the place is a success.

Yeah but we still need to get some walk in traffic. We’re not very big so we can fill up when we get busy. If people come in, they can push the tables together and we don’t have a whole lot of space. There are times when we are too small for the people who want to come here. Other times, we’re not. It depends on the time of day, it’s up and flows because of the area we are in. People going to work, people coming back from work, people at home or people hanging out with kids.

Have you ever thought of opening up a bigger space or expanding?

I have, that’s a financial issue. I own the building so I’m not going to up and leave to go rent some space, so it would have to be doable within this footprint. One thing that I worry a little bit is to not create a space where people camp out at on their computers all day and I do have that issue sometimes. I’m trying to encourage community and not camping out with your head in a screen. It’s a tricky balance because people come here because we have free wifi, I would lose people if I didn’t offer that. At the same time it’s counter-intuitive to what I want to create here.

Irresistible India

I was a little nervous about eating Indian food simply because it’s been a long time since I ate that type of cuisine (about four years to put it in perspective). I figured I would give it another shot.

I found a place called Indiya in Collingswood, NJ. I decided to particularly eat at this restaurant  because there’s a whole section on the menu with vegetarian and vegan meals. As a bonus, a lot of the meals on the menu are gluten free.

When I arrived, I noticed that the restaurant was upscale but very affordable. I decided to do takeout and it was no problem. The restaurant  is usually open from noon until 2:30 pm and re-opens at 5 pm.

I decided to go with the Paneer Makhani and Gulab Jamun. The paneer makhani consists fresh cheese cubes and a rich, creamy tomato honey sauce with ginger with a side of rice. I never had a honey sauce or ginger and was nervous about trying it but it was absolutely divine.

 

Paneer Makhani. Photo: Geneva Gerwitz

The rice was cooked perfectly and the Paneer Makhani was thick, creamy, sweet and had a slight hint of spiciness. The cheese cubes were cooked perfectly and had a texture similar to tofu. The containers that the food came in didn’t make it seem like there was much food but there was enough to last 2 days.

 

I previously ate the Gulab Jamun  at a different restaurant and I was anxious to see if it tasted as good as I remembered. It was simply amazing. The container only held three but that was enough. Gulab Jamun tastes like a sweet pancake and the texture is exactly like a pancake. The difference is that these are shaped like bite size, oval balls and smothered in a rose syrup, which tastes similar to a thin maple syrup.

I definitely will go back to this restaurant. My mouth waters every time I think about it.

…It ain’t easy eating green…

Not eating meat or fish can be tricky, frustrating and sometimes a pain the butt….but you do it because it’s worth it.

I always get the typical questions about why I went vegetarian and how I handle day-to-day life…and I always tell them that I have my good days and my challenging days, but I don’t regret it.

These nachos has lettuce and tomatoes….that qualifies as a salad, right? Photo: Geneva Gerwitz

Everyone who has become a vegetarian or vegan has different reasons to become one. Some might tell you that killing animals is horrible, others might say they did so they could become healthier and some might say that they simply do not like the taste/texture of meat. I went vegetarian because I believe that the way slaughterhouses kill animals are completely inhumane. (Note: some images and videos on the slaughterhouse link are graphic).

I know whenever I intend on going out, I have to plan ahead of time to see if there is anything on the menu that is vegetarian or vegan. But guess what? I found a website that lists various fast food places that offer vegetarian options (looks like I just fell in love with Taco Bell again!).

When I’m not in the drive-thru lane, I’m sitting at home wondering what to eat (and yes, I do think about food a lot). I stick to my basic, lousy diet of salad and pasta because I know it’s a quick vegetarian meal, but every day I keep finding more and more quick, easy meals. Though a lot of recipes do involve pasta, there’s always vegetables and an array of sauces involved.  Then there’s always ingredients and items that you didn’t know had animal byproducts in it, so making sure that every item is 100% meat free is challenging to say the least.

 

Meatless Mexican

Stop 1 of my meatless journey: El Limon Mexican Taqueria.

El Limon is a Mexican restaurant that has several locations throughout the suburbs of Philadelphia. 

El Limon Mexican Taqueria in Conshohocken, PA. Photo by: Geneva Gerwitz

There are so many items on the menu that are meatless and I was tempted to eat everything. They have tacos, loaded nachos, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas and so much more: all with or without meat. Majority of the items had the option of adding meat to it but, for the most part, you had to request meat. It was nice to walk into to a place and order food without saying, “I would like that with no meat, please.”

Though the decision was hard, I ultimately decided on a vegetable burrito and loaded nachos. It was the best mistake that I have ever made. Why was it the best mistake? Because it was so filling, so delicious that I couldn’t eat it all and was left feeling like a tick ready to pop.

I started my meal with the overstuffed vegetable burrito. It was filled with rice, refried beans, thin strips of carrots, thin, tender strips of zucchini, peas and corn. The burrito was smothered in cheese, lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream and chipotle sauce. I had to use both hands to hold the burrito and that wasn’t enough to keep it together; I also had to use a fork to pick up the parts that fell onto my plate.

Vegetable Burrito. Photo by: Geneva Gerwitz

The burrito was simply divine; each bite was like taking a bite into heaven. Everything in the burrito was cooked to perfection. The sauce that smothered the burrito was spicy enough to clear your sinuses. All the toppings caused it to be so messy that my hands were drenched but I didn’t care; all I cared about was taking the next bite. It was so large and filling that I was only able to eat half of it.

I was so full after eating the burrito that I had to take a break before I could move onto the loaded nachos.

Loaded Nachos. Photo by: Geneva Gerwitz

The nachos were smothered with guacamole, rice, sour cream and chopped tomatoes with melted cheese woven through the tortilla chips. The tortilla chips were thicker than the ones you might buy in the grocery store and were crunchier. Each bite was warm, messy and just as filling as the burrito.

 

El Limon is a place that I wish I visited sooner and I have fallen in love with the amazing Mexican food.

Introduction

My name is Geneva Gerwitz and I am a senior at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. I am creating this blog for an Online Journalism class and I will be going to different restaurants to explore what kind of meal options they have for vegetarians. I will primarily be looking and attending different restaurants that have little to no meat on their menu. I will be conducting interviews with employees and patrons at the restaurants I will be attending, posting photos of the food and drinks I order and writing reviews on the meals.