We gathered today at the coffee shop with our lattes, gazing deeply into our computers.
There’s a Mohawk gentleman occupied with his computer and a woman in the same table that is writing on colored index cards. Just beside them is a couple dressed in formals, the lady is wearing heels and he’s in a suit, engaged in a conversation.
A guy is seated on the couch, a couple engrossed in their phones, a boy studying from a book, a guy busy watching videos on his laptop. A woman had walked in gazing through a fashion catalog left with her order of vanilla latte along with an extra shot while another lady is trying to look for a power outlet for one of the dying devices.
Melissa O’Neil and Jeremy Bontrager take cash and prepare exotic coffee for their customers.
There are some familiar sounds that you can hear while sitting at The Daily Grind which has been around since the 1990s. It was then when Tanya Fox Bleiler started this lovely coffee shop at 113 E. Lexington Ave. but later sold it to Myron Bontrager who now calls it ‘The Electric Brew’. It is the oldest coffee shop in Elkhart and the only one from the Elkhart Dining Days.
Soft music plays, so no one is interrupted. The beautifully festooned walls with art from local artists, of which the temporary ones keep changing with time, look striking.
The ambiance is not the only reason that beckons us always to The Electric Blue. Every day between 6 am to 11 am you can feast on a special meal with orange juice or a cup of coffee for just $5. You will find different options every day. Between 11 am to 5 pm you can get a pastry, sandwich and a soft drink for $10. Monday was bacon panini and Tuesday was they served turkey srirachapanini.
Oh! what a panini press can do to a simple sandwich, small in size but works magic on sandwiches. Panini has been often viewed by me as Italian for its “expensive grilled cheese” so far. But this one from the coffee shop that was made of spinach and tomato was inexpensive.
Specialty for Dining Days in the evening between 6 pm to 8 pm is two pastries and two small special drinks. The Brew calls it the “after dinner date”. I believe you could treat yourself for the full $10 or look for someone to share your half in case you come alone.
I picked the bar completed with a pretzel and peanut butter bottom topped with chocolate.
We gather at the coffee shop and sit for hours and listen to the buzz of conversation whirls.
Not only do we need places like this to sell us comfort and coffee but where we can gather as a community and pass another day together.
