What Helped Me Through Winter Part 3

The future. In three months we'll all be able to sit in the Henry Art Museum's outdoor sculpture court on sunny days.

This court is accessible through Molly's Cafe, the only place in the University District that serves Stumptown coffee and the only cafe on all of UW's campus that makes a better than good cup. I started coming here before morning classes during the first week of school. There's a skybridge over 15th Avenue that students clomp up and down all day to get from the bus stop to campus; the Henry's front door is at the University end of the bridge. That first day, a little green sandwich board alerted me to Molly's presence. Yes, both of these businesses are the sort of places that make you feel like you're on a first name basis with them.

To get to Molly's, go in the Henry's front doors and tell the questioning receptionist that you're headed for the cafe (if it's Bob Rini, say hi and be extra nice). Then walk past the desk, past a bank of windows, past the entrance to the original Henry (it was remodeled and expanded to three times its original size in 1997), then take a right and walk down two flights of stairs. At the bottom of the second flight, you'll see Molly's. It seems to be a place where grad students, teachers, Henry staff, and arty undergrads hang out. The baristas are all friendly and good looking. Most importantly, they all make great lattes. They know my name and they know my drink. This is where I write. This is where I get lunch. When I drug myself out of bed on the dark winter mornings, this is what I looked forward to.

I've never been to Molly's when the weather is good enough to have coffee in the sculpture court--and I'm not sure why it's called that, I see no sculpture. So every morning when I order my coffee, I look out the glass doors and imagine what it will be like to sit outside, in the sun, and drink it while the buses on 15th lumber by.

The perfect recipe for this story isn't one I can make myself, but thousands of people across the country can, and hundreds can do it superlatively well. Particularly if they work for Caffe Vita, Cafe Fiore, or Stumptown coffee. Have you guessed it yet? My daily favorite, my daily addiction: one gorgeously poured, thick foamed double-tall latte.