REVIEW: Cafe excels in tea, coffee, cookies, lunch and old-fashioned conversation
FLORISSANT • Every community, no matter how small, seems to have a place where old guys gather in the early morning to mull over the world's problems.
Sometimes it's a corner table in a corner diner, sometimes it's a counter in a country cafe. In the most rural places, it is often just two pickups nestled window to window while the drivers bloviate over steaming cups of weak gas station coffee.
In the tiny crossroads of Florissant, it's Costello Street Coffee House, and I hope between the daily grumbling and prognostication, those gray-haired sages realize how good they have it.
The coffee served in this converted 1882 Victorian house is hot, fresh-ground espresso. The small, hardworking menu teems with delicious surprises, and the comfortable warren of dining rooms and sunny patios goes way beyond what most early morning gathering spots offer.
In all, it's not just a good place for the local breakfast club, it deserves a stop from anyone looking for a good, quick bite while exploring Teller County. If you plan to go see the aspens turn in the next few weeks, a stop at Costello should be on your list.
The first time I walked through Costello's door, into its floral, antiques-heavy dining room, I passed through a pod of graywhiskered fellows sipping coffee, and I swear one was shaking his head, saying, "I tell ya, the way things are today ..."
I was sure this meant I'd find tired, uninspired dishes (one more thing to complain about). Instead, I found a quaint counter covered in colorful cakes, cookies and croissants.
"Do you bake all these here?" I asked with wide eyes.
"No, we get them from town," said a woman on the other side of the mound of baked goods. "You try baking anything at 8,200 feet."
Fair enough. Instead, they call in some talented pinch hitters. They order cakes from Little London Cake Shoppe, which The Gazette named "best cake" in our Best of the Springs magazine. The pastries and delicious lineup of all-butter tea cookies come from another Springs heavy hitter: Boonzaaijer's.
The hot menu is hit and miss.
I ordered the biscuits and gravy (the breakfast club favorite, $3.35) with a side of scrambled eggs, and while the biscuit (fluffy, round, split, grilled and smothered in crispy, browned sausage and thick, beige gravy) was a gut-busting delight, the eggs (rubbery, overcooked, tasted as if they came from a carton) gave me the urge to join the crew by the door for a round of "they don't make 'em like they used to."
Lunch fared much better. Costello does a small list of panini and cold sandwiches in which meat takes center stage.
The Caboose sandwich ($7.95) paired a fat pile of ham and turkey with translucently thin slices of sweet tomato, havarti dill cheese, lettuce, red onion and a smear of garlic-basil-herb mayo on slender slices of rye bread. It was perfect.
The Chuckwagon ($7.95) has the same deft mix of fat and thin. A flavorful mound of roast beef is backed by a nuanced but well-chosen cast of cheddar cheese, tomato slivers and mayo, on sourdough bread brushed with garlic olive oil.
The sandwiches, which come with better-than-expected potato salad or pasta salad, are near perfect, and if you're on a leaf-viewing trip, you can get them to go for a picnic under the aspens.
The best way to get to love Costello, though, is by having afternoon tea - or coffee if you prefer. Not only does Costello whip up a mean cappuccino ($2.80) and boast high-end, loose-leaf teas, but the array of rich little cookies (25-50 cents) you can order alongside are all fabulous. Some are covered in sugar and light as a cloud. Some are slaked with fresh cinnamon. Each is even better paired with a hot drink.
It's a perfect afternoon snack that may even be good enough to convince the morning coffee cup pundits to change their schedules.
Costello street Coffee house
*** (Don't miss the cookies)
Address: 2679 W. U.S. Highway 24, Florissant
Contact: 1-719-748-3567, costellostreet coffeehouse.com Hours: 6 a.m-7 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays
Entrees: $3.35-$8.35
Vegetarian: Lots of baked goods, Harvest Moon sandwich
Alcohol: No
Plastic: Yes
