Mike Marquard

Mike Marquard Discusses Blueprint Coffee, Opening This Summer in the Delmar Loop

Three weeks ago Gut Check learned that Blueprint Coffee is planning to open at 6225 Delmar Boulevard, along the same block of the Delmar Loop where two other restaurants have already opened this year: Mission Taco Joint (6235 Delmar Boulevard; 314-932-5430) and Chubbies (6227 Delmar Boulevard; 314-7 ... More >>

First Look: MEDIAnoche

MEDIAnoche (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-725-0719), a new evening hot spot from Mike Randolph of the Good Pie and Half & Half, made Gut Check's list of the five most anticipated new St. Louis restaurants of 2012. We stopped by recently to meet with Randolph and general manager Mike Marquard an ... More >>

Sunny-Side Uprising: Half & Half gives breakfast the bistro treatment

Cup of Colombia Cauca Inza, Half & Half

Image via​If you show up at Half & Half (8135 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-973-0446), Clayton's bustling new breakfast-and-lunch spot, at 11 a.m., smack in the middle of the Sunday brunch rush and sans reservation, expect to wait. If the host informs you that it will be about a half an hour b ... More >>

Something Fishier This Way Comes

​Bad week for tuna lovers. On Sunday the New York Times Magazine ran a feature warning of the dwindling numbers of bluefin tuna, those big and tasty cash cows of the deep. Now the paper's Green blog brings word that saltwater fish are more apt than their freshwater cousins to cause mercury poi ... More >>

Kaldi's Mike Marquard Places Sixth in United States Barista Championships

​Congratulations to Mike Marquard of Kaldi's for his second consecutive sixth-place finish at the United States Barista Championships in Anaheim, California, on Sunday. Marquard, who works as director of education for the local micro-roaster, entered the competition as the Midwest regional c ... More >>

Cheer for Kaldi's and Get 25 Percent Off Drinks

Micah Svejda, Joe Marrocco and Mike Marquard are representing Kaldi's Coffee this week at the SCAA United States Barista Championship in Anaheim, California. Marquard placed sixth in last year's competition. Watch the local trio compete live at Kaldi's Coffeehouse at the Crescent and Kayak's Coffe ... More >>

Fifteen Shots Later, Part 2: Java Enabled Judges the Midwest Regional Barista Competition

Photo courtesy Kaldi's Coffee​On Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1, Zach Dyer helped judge the Midwest Regional Barista Competition, with the winner advancing to the national competition in Anaheim in April 2010. In last week's post, Dyer explained how the competition works and describe ... More >>

Java Enabled Previews the Midwest Regional Barista Competition

​"It's like Iron Chef with baristas making coffee drinks."That's how Josh Ferguson, owner of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, describes the Midwest Regional Barista Competition. The competition gathers the best baristas from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dako ... More >>

Java Enabled: Lo Mejor de Monserrate

Lo Mejor de Monserrate. It means, "the best of Monserrate." This perhaps presumptuous claim is the name of a tiny cooperative nestled high in the mountains of Colombia's Huila coffee region. Last month Tyler Zimmer and Mike Marquard of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company visited Monserrate. This was a r ... More >>

Java Enabled: Dedicated to Coffee and Free for All

"If you look out that window, you can still see the original smokestack that they put in when they started roasting coffee here," said Mike Marquard, a barista trainer for Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company.We were sitting in the back room of the roaster's DeMun café. Sure enough, tucked away behind ... More >>

Jave Enabled: Coffee for One

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Betrayal was the fi ... More >>

Java Enabled: Kaldi's Barista Smokes His Way to the Top

Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Tobacco smoke, cara ... More >>

Kaldi's Shot at the Big Time