The terra-cotta Intelligentsia coffee sign pops out from a drab stretch of industrial buildings along San Fernando Road in Glassell Park. Sorry, you can’t buy a cup of Esmeralda Especial here. This is the company’s West Coast roasting plant and training center, where baristas-to-be get their training before they are allowed to go solo behind the Clover machine in the Silver Lake store and future locations. Kyle Glanville, manager of Espresso Research Development, describes the training in a story posted on Food GPS:
Does that test include keeping a straight face when they tell you your cup of coffee costs $3.75?
Photo by brainylagirl of the Silver Lake store