Day 5: Eastside fail

Afternoon meetings at main campus in Redmond—along with glowing reviews from Urbanspoon and Yelp—prompted today’s visit to T’Latte in Bellevue.

That's right, I was kickin' it with THIS face

T’Latte, located on the edge of Olde Bellevue just south of Bell Square, just so happens to serve Dilletante Hot Chocolate. My fellow work-from-homer, Liz M, just so happens to love herself a mug of warm, chocolately goodness. It was a date.

But, wouldn’t you know it—T’Latte doesn’t have WiFi. These recent coffee shop visits are starting to rock my worldview that every place in the greater Seattle area obviously has a network connection. Weird.

After the T’Latte WiFi fail, Liz and I reassessed the situation, circled the block, and settled on the new Cupcake Royale that’s conveniently located on the same block.

The Bellevue Cupcake Royale, which opened in late September 2010, is the Seattle-based chain’s first and only location on the east side. The café still bears all the tell-tale signs of its former occupant and every drunk’s favorite late-night breakfast place: IHOP. (Get all the deets from Seattle Weekly’s 9/9/10 blog post by Jason Sheehan here.)

Liz and I found a spot in a somewhat cozy corner in the back that looked like it had been decorated by someone’s German grandmother. I sat under a sign that tastefully advertised Cupcake Royale’s brew of choice: Portland’s own Stumptown Coffee. The tea selection was provided by another Portland company: Steven Smith Teamaker.  

Sadly, our work date at Cupcake Royale wasn’t meant to be. After numerous attempts and a machine reboot, I still couldn’t get a wireless connection. (The friendly young barista apologetically informed us that “it’s an old building, so sometimes we have wireless, sometimes we don’t!”)

As you recall, my earlier coffee shop/remote work experience at Victor’s in Redmond was a fail, which means that we’re now 0 for 3 on the eastside coffee experience. In summary: the eastside needs to pull it together and step up.

Next up…

Tomorrow I’ll be at Crystal Mountain. Yes, it’s a work engagement. And yes, it will be painful. To top things off, tomorrow evening marks the first gathering in the new year of Wino Readfest. Needless to say, I probably won’t squeeze in a remote workplace coffee shop visit.

But! Friday is a different story. You’ll most likely find me at the new Bird on a Wire Espresso in West Seattle’s Admiral District. Stay tuned. And, in the meantime, stay caffeinated.