Julie Falk and her two adorable kids, Lindsay and Ryan

My Chat with a Lovely Barista

Starbucks, July 22, 2008.

Screw “we don’t talk to the press.” I used my valuable insider connections to have barista Sean Glazebrook break that rule. Glazebrook is a buddy of Claes Brondal, the assistant manager and my former co-worker at the Bridgehampton Starbucks.

Glazebrook, a 22-year-old from Sag Harbor who has been working at the Bridgehampton Starbucks for 2 ½ years, is baffled as to why Starbucks has become such a worldwide phenomenon.

“I don’t understand how any coffee place could have grown to what (Starbucks) has become,” he said. Finally, an honest answer and not some regurgitated “money” phrase about why Starbucks coffee is as crucial as water.

Well, as a veteran barista, Glazebrook had to tack on some of that. “Starbucks is called your third place, after home and work,” he said.

Just because the Hamptons is the Hamptons, the Bridgehampton Starbucks is a hotbed for celebrity spottings.

Any yet seen by the barista this summer? “Jodie Foster was in here yesterday,” Glazebrook said nonchalantly. “And last week, we had Jerry O’Connell from the Sliders TV show.” Saturday Night Live actress Amy Poehler has also been seen a few times since the beginning of the summer, Glazebrook noted.

I asked the barista what he thought of the closing of 616 Starbucks nationwide. He noted that the number of stores closing amounts to only 8% of Starbucks stores around the country, and therefore will have little impact on the well-being of the company.

The small impact the cutback might have, however, would be most noticeable in the rural areas, Glazebrook said. “Places like this might suffer more than city stores,” he said, since there are Starbucks stores at nearly every couple of blocks in Manhattan, for example.

“It does affect the 12,000 baristas, though,” the barista said, who will be forced to re-locate to a different store or to find a new job altogether.

A neighboring store, the Southampton Starbucks, is one of the ones that will be closing soon. “Its underperformance is the reason why it’s closing,” said Glazebrook. “It didn’t exceed its standards.”

Glazebrook doesn’t think its closing will affect the Southampton community in any significant way. “It’s in such a bad location, right on Montauk Highway…which is why it wasn’t doing well,” he said. Glazebrook added that Starbucks would like to relocate on Main Street in Southampton in a few years’ time—if they find a preferable location, that is.

Any fear of the Bridgehampton store being closed? “No way,” said the barista. “We’re a high-volume store.”

And what about those new protein shakes? Where did those come from? “It’s a new beverage platform, ‘cause lots of customers and partners alike voiced concerns about healthier options (on the Starbucks menu),” Glazebrook said.

Ahh. So people are getting tired of filling their guts with several-hundred-calorie frappacinos.

Though introduced in the summer to help cool off customers, these new beverages will be offered throughout the year, depending on their success in the other seasons.

The two shakes offered on the East Coast—the orange mango banana vivanno and the banana chocolate vivanno—are doing extremely well so far in the Bridgehampton Starbucks, Glazebrook reported. They’ve been neck and neck since introduced to the menu—“the orange mango banana is doing slightly better, just ‘cause it’s so tasty,” the barista said.

The West Coast Starbucks chains are cutting down on the calories with the sorbettos, a healthy menu item comparable to the vivanno.

Frappacinos have taken their toll on the company in urban areas of the country. In New York, for example, all stores are required to post the ingredients of each item, which surely makes customers think twice about ordering their usual high-calorie beverage.

Glazebrook mentioned that the new city law has also affected the sales of food, especially the bakery items.
Hopefully the coffee chain won’t be swept up so much by the calorie-avoiding hype that it would evolve into one of those anal health food shops that won’t offer one iota of fat-filled snack or beverage. God help us, we have plenty of those places in this paranoid-of-calorie-consumption country.

Slices of Life at the Bridgehampton Starbucks

Starbucks, July 21, 2008.

Every time I walk through the back doors of the Starbucks on Main Street in Bridgehampton, I have feelings of bittersweet nostalgia.

It was my very first “summer” job—working as a barista the summer between my freshman and sophomore year at Barnard College.

And, boy, do you see all types of “slices of life” in this location.

Here’s what I witnessed on this Monday afternoon:

One woman in her 30’s was biting her nails as she sipped her iced coffee and was engrossed in an Allure magazine. Perhaps if she stopped reading garbage, her life wouldn’t be as nerve-wracking…

Another girl in her 20’s, Christina Loghin, was viciously typing away on her MacBook. “My internet’s not working at home, so I just came here to work on a project,” she said. A Manhattan resident who has been weekending at her family home for three years, Loghin seems to have found a comfortable niche at the store. “It’s upbeat—quiet enough to work, but still lively,” she said. “They need to update their playlist, though.”

Another middle-aged woman, Joanna—she refused to give her last name--was wearing dark glasses and was avidly reading the NY Times, waiting for her friend Bruce to join her. Shortly after arriving, Bruce pulled out a series of photographs taken on his recent trip to New Mexico, where he’s looking to buy a lot.

A semi-regular resident of Sag Harbor, Bruce values this Starbucks for its convenient location.

“It’s a nice layout…I hope it’s not on the hit list,” he said, referring to the recent closing of several hundred Starbucks nationwide due to the weakening economy.

Joanna commented on the quality of the coffee, claiming that she prefers it to the Golden Pear’s, which she described as bitter. “(This Starbucks location) could be cleaner, but otherwise it’s nice,” she said. She wished the music were softer and “more relaxing,” however.

Meanwhile, some of the barista were chatting amongst each other, while others were setting up the music stands and restocking the coffee bags. They were not available for comment. “We’re not allowed to talk to the press,” one of them said curtly. Since when are blogs considered part of the “press”?

It was just another daily visit to Starbucks for Julie Falk and her children, 6-year-old Lindsay and 3-year-old Ryan. Upper West Siders in the off season and Bridgehamptonites by summer, Julie and her kids have been hooked on the chain since its first Manhattan appearance on 87^th St. and Broadway, close to their home.

“(Starbuck’s) a huge mommy magnet in the city,” Julie said, admitting that she and her kids frequent the shop approximately 2-3 times a day.

“Devastated” by the first location’s closing a few years ago, the Falks were forced to walk to the 93^rd or 95^th St./Broadway locations until a Starbucks location was added to the first floor of their apartment building.

“The proximity has certainly worsened my addiction (to Starbucks coffee),” she said.

Though very appreciative of the new location in her building, Julie prefers the Bridgehampton location to any of the urban shops. “In the city everyone has strollers—the space is confined, and it’s often very crowded and noisy,” she said.

Julie alluded to the Bridgehampton loction as “the crossroads of the Hamptons” due to its central location on Main Street.

The stay-at-home mom also commented on the wide range of regulars at the Bridgehampton location. “You see the same people here every day…from celebrities, to landscapers, to moms—it goes by the clock. You see the waves passing through,” she said.

With regard to the competing coffee shops, such as the Golden Pear or Hampton Coffee, Mrs. Falk feels more comfortable at her second home.

“I don’t feel the need to be at Hampton Coffee, ‘cause it’s the local place. And the coffee is generally not as reliable. Golden Pear’s coffee sits on burners—it gets old and stale,” she said.

The Falk family has been coming to the Bridgehampton Starbucks since the late ‘90’s, when they were renting a house right in back of the coffee shop.

“When I was a baby, I used to organize the coffee bags and get everything into shape,” Lindsay said.

The Falks also enjoy the Bridgehampton Starbucks location for the pre-Starbucks bank items, such as the safes. “We love sitting on the couch in the back and admiring the big safe door,” she said. “When (the kids) were smaller, we used to try to guess the combination of the safe in the front,” the mother said with a smile.

The only missing component, according to Julie Falk, are diaper changing tables.

Mitchell Iden, another weekly regular of the Hamptons Starbucks, is an attorney in Manhattan and has been coming out to his East Hampton home for a decade now. “This location is bigger and brighter than the East Hampton location,” he said, mentioning the vault as one of the signature attractions of the Bridgehampton space.

Iden criticized the Golden Pear for being overpriced. “You get better value (at Starbucks),” he said. “You get more for your money. A smaller iced coffee, for example, is sold for the same price as a grande here.”

Iden also prefers the quality of coffee at Starbucks. “It’s a stronger, better taste,” he said.

Just another summer weekday at the Bridgehampton Starbucks.