“Large Americano.” “Iced latte.” “Cold brew. You’re so fast.” “This is Grand Central. People is in a hurry here.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Baristas are really important
because giving them a good cup Of coffee can change the
whole rhythm of their day.” It is a little after
6:00 in the morning, And we are in a very
familiar location. We are at Grand
Central Station. We are here to visit
a barista named Arnaldo who serves
coffee at the Cafe Grumpy at Grand Central. There are very few
server-to-customer Interactions that feel so high
stakes than a barista giving A person who is about to
go to work their coffee In the morning, and I can’t
even imagine doing it at one Of the busiest transit
stations in the entire Country. Hey, Arnaldo. “Hey how are you?” I’m Priya. It’s nice to meet you. “Welcome in.” Thanks. I don’t think I’ve ever been
to Grand Central this early In the morning. “My name is Arnaldo
Hernandez Mundo. I am a professional barista at
Cafe Grumpy in New York City, And I’ve been doing
coffee for 10 years.” So show me your
setup back here. “So back here, we have ice
where we serve the iced
Drinks. We put the cups, we
put them in right here. This is the milk station where
all the pitchers get rinsed. This is the rinser. Water. Soon as you finish the
drink, shhh, it rinses.” So you’re like, basically just
getting ready for the morning Rush right now. “Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Exactly. We set up everything, and –” Is it like the calm before
the storm right now? “Yeah, before.” “You know, when the storm
is constantly hitting, You just get used to it.” “You have six minutes
until opening.” Oh yeah. Here. You do you. Yeah, yeah. yeah.” Do your thing. “Good morning.” “How are you, man?” “Hi.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “We’re officially open. Yeah. So here you go. Your drip coffee. Do you want room for milk?” “No.” “Here you go.” “Thanks so much.” “Have a great day.”
What time is it going to
get like, super crazy? “8:00, 8:30 starts kicking in. Skim one shot, cortado. Enjoy.” “Did you say skim or regular?” “You want it regular? It’s all right. I got you right here.” “I’m sorry. We have the shot.” No, no. It’s all good. There we go.” “Oh, you’re the best.” “Have a good day.” “Thanks, guys.
See you tomorroow.” “Yeah. See you.” It’s getting really busy. I was trying to intercept
and order a scone, But that may not
be in my future. What is the hardest
part of your job? “Whole milk latte. Enjoy. The hardest part of my job
is making sure coffee tastes The same all the time. All those numbers and
meticulousness going on, you Have to be able to make
that happen in a fast pace.” One thing that really
stood out to me — “Cold brew on the bar.” — you’re doing the hard
work of making coffee, And you have to make
the customers happy. Does that feel especially
challenging to you? “I just take it as I’m just
here having a relationship
With people and doing
something I really love doing. It’s that relationship that
makes actually the coffee Good.” I know almost
nothing about coffee. “Oh, we got you.” This is a huge — “I got you.” — blind spot. “So we make sure we
have dose 19 grams. So we put –” You have to have 19 exactly. “Yeah, in order to
follow the recipe.” Yeah, yeah. yeah. So you’ve got to flatten it. “So we gotta make
sure flat it out. 90 degrees on our
elbows, and –” Wow. “And we make sure it’s even. That will make sure that
water, when it goes through, It falls as even as it can.” There’s just so
much to remember. “Oh, you got coffee, but we
got to try it in order to know If it’s right.” Mmm. That’s nice. “It’s not bad.” Smooth.
Yeah. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it could be a
little juicy, more juicy. See? Like now, it’s hitting the
back part of your tongue, Which is not as good. I want to do it again –” O.K.
“– in order to get
to 38 instead of 39. So this time, we got 36.7.” O.K. Ooh. “Try it. This should be
a little better. See? It’s way better?” Yeah. This is way better. “It’s more clean. Not as dry.” “Where are you from?” “Puerto Rico.” “In Puerto Rico, I lived
my entire life there. I started college, and I
figured out that school wasn’t For me. I started working. I got a job as a waiter. One of the waiters, he got
the hang of making latte art. When I discovered
I could do that, I wanted to be a barista. I was going to coffee
shop in San Juan, Puerto Rico, And I would work from
7:00 until 11:00 for free, But that helped me
to learn faster. I was there for two years. I became a manager, and
I decided to compete. I competed in latte art,
and I got third place.” What did you draw? “It was two wings
with three hearts.” You were working in
coffee in Puerto Rico, And then Hurricane Maria hit. Can you talk about
what that was like? “Hurricane Maria. He messed up Puerto
Rico, like, completely.
My trainer on the competition,
he told me Cafe Grumpy owners Told me that if some of the
baristas that want to move To New York and come and
work, there’s an open door For that.” What was your
impression of him? “He’s super professional
and positive, But he also takes
this super seriously. I really appreciate what
goes into getting the coffee To the customer, all the
behind-the-scenes from The farms and everything.” What do you think about the
fact that a cup of coffee Costs like $7 or $8 now? “Coming from Puerto Rico and
actually going to pick coffee, It’s a hustle. It’s a lot of labor. Going to pick coffee, it’s
really important for us Baristas. We have to see how hard it is. Having at least that
experience of picking coffee, It makes you be gentle with
at least the process of making It.” What drew you to come to
New York to do coffee? “Specialty coffee in Puerto
Rico wasn’t like a thing. Coffee culture in Puerto
Rico is more relaxed. I decided to do
coffee, and I said, I’m going to do this
for my entire life. This is what I like to do. And having this opportunity
was like the door To enter into this
more professional, High-level coffee scene. There you go. Yeah, enjoy.” Not only did you
come to New York, But you came to one of the
busiest coffee shops here.
You came to Grand
Central Station. What was that transition like? “It was fun because
it wasn’t just you. It was five people
on the watch. So seeing that and working
with a team that was really Passionate about it
too is amazing here.” “Frappe latte.” “Thank you.” [MUSIC PLAYING] Are you used to working
in such a tight space now? It’s just like, do
you feel normal? “Yeah. So you get used to.” This is tight. This is a small coffee shop. There’s not a lot of
room to stand around. “Right behind you. You’re good.” “Could I get a medium
coffee with a lot of room?” “Decaf macchiato.” “Decaf vanilla Latte.” “Oat latte.” “Cold brew.” “Cold brew, please.” “Cold brew, please.” “Iced Americano.” “Short Americano.”
“Almond milk cappuccino.” “Two cold brews.” “Cortado.” There’s not a lot of
room for error either. And I have to
say, in 2.5 hours, I’ve seen them mess up
an order only one time. “Put it right here.” I’d be messing up
half of these orders.
I’m not a details person. You have to be a details
person for this job. “Iced Americano.” What’s it like having
Arnaldo as a coworker? “We’re usually
playing Latin music, Or we’re dancing and
we’re just joking around. There’s a lot of energy behind
the bar when it’s just us two Together.” “I have a cold
brew on the bar.” I’m very impressed with
you and Arnaldo’s energy, Your interaction with
customers, and just like, Your interactions
with each other. You guys know how to move
around each other really well. “Right behind you.” “Having worked in
the service industry, There’s a universal language. There’s a universal way
of maneuvering each space, So you learn like, O.K. This
person knows what they’re Doing. I know what I’m doing.” “Right behind you.” What do you think it
takes to do your job? “Iced oat latte, personal cup. It does take quite
a bit of patience. There’s a lot of
humanity involved.” [CHATTER] [JAZZ MUSIC] The rush is so real. A train comes, and they
are absolutely slammed. This place is full. [JAZZ MUSIC] “Got it. Enjoy. Cold brew on the bar.”
“We had such a lovely
coffee here yesterday.” “Oh, you got the right place.” “We had to come back here.” “That was yesterday, right?” “Yeah, yesterday. Yeah.” “Nice.” “Walking down, trying
to get that smell. We couldn’t get
it anywhere else.” “Hot almond latte.” “I work nearby, and I need
a coffee because it’s Monday Morning.” And you come here every day? “I come here
almost every day.” What keeps you coming back? “Mostly, honestly, the staff. They’re great.” What do you think
about Arnaldo? “This is his work, and
I think it’s amazing. He creates a beautiful
experience for me every single Morning, and that’s why I
come to Cafe Grumpy because I Always leave happy.” I feel like I underestimated
the power of a cup of coffee For people. “Don’t do that. It’s a bad look. I like to feel special
in the morning, And that’s how Arnaldo
makes me feel.” I feel like he makes a lot
of people here feel special. What have you learned about
people doing this job? “A lot of empathy. Cold brew on the bar. We have a key to make
anybody a better day. Enjoy.
Have a good day. Hey, how are you doing? Hey, what’s up? Long time, no see. I’m bouncing. O.K.? Go on break.” Ready to go on break? “Let’s go.” You’ve been working. I haven’t. But we’re both going on break. This is lovely. “Yeah.” This is just like
your wind down time? “My wind down time, my
thinking about stuff time.” Do you feel like there are
misconceptions that people Have of your job? “A lot of people
think it’s easy. A lot of people think
it’s not a real job. It’s mostly look as a
young people’s job through Their college. You know?” Yeah.
Yeah. “Which takes out a little
bit of seriousness. Most of the people that
work in coffee and dedicate To coffee just love it. It’s not a million dollars, but it’s
something that you can live, Have a life, you know? People should dedicate
more to coffee. Dedicate more as a job
instead of just having a side Job for my college, or — Because it’s a
beautiful industry.” There are 30 minutes
left in Arnaldo’s shift.
“Have a good day.” I am really quite
amazed at how he’s like, Still smiling and laughing and
chit-chatting with customers. “Thank you. How are you today?” “Go for it.” Shall we get out of here? “Let’s bounce.” Do you consider yourself
successful right now? “Totally. Totally successful. Success is relative. We rate success with
finishing college and getting A corporate job. But I think success is when
you’re clear with yourself And in peace with yourself,
that this is what you like Doing. If you like it,
you’re successful.” [MUSIC PLAYING]
Have you ever wondered why most of the Vinaigrettes in the grocery store are made with 10, 20, sometimes even almost 30 ingredients? I remember growing up in Provence watching my mother whipping vinaigrettes before every single dinner. She would mix in a giant bowl, delicious extra virgin olive oil, a robust aged vinegar (the flavor would depend on the main dish), sea salt and pepper and voila! I decided to do the same thing for my family and friends more than 20 years ago here in this beautiful country. And Provence Kitchen® was born. Stay tune for more articles and wonderful family recipes..
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