It's just you and your barista at Intelligentsia Venice

You've dropped in for an espresso. Your own private barista greets you at the door and guides you to a custom-made, walnut-and-steel espresso-making station, tricked out with a swivel base and hydraulics for raising and lowering the attached grinder. Welded to its main compartment is a built-in, two-group machine, from which the barista pulls your shot. You take your cappuccino, grab a cushion from a stack and toss it onto the concrete, settling into the stadium seating at the back of the coffeehouse.

By Joshua Lurie

April 29, 2009