Barista Doug

Kentville is a small town in Kentville of ~7500-10,000 folks. Having a dog that enjoys early morning jaunts allows me to see aspects of the town that others comfortably tucked away in bed miss out on.

There are a couple of gents and gals that Bugsie and I see every morning on our walks. Doug is one of them. Doug and his partner own the "Designer Cafe." They also owned the florist next door at one point. Doug is in every weekday @5:30AM getting ready for the day. Doug is busily putting together the soup and sandwich specials of the day, from scratch, from locally and organically grown products. They don't offer a lot, but what they do offer is incredible!!!

On my way to work I went with camera in hand and asked Doug if I could snap a few of him "doing his thing." He said yes if I'd buy a latte. Luckily, I wanted to take pics of him making a latte!!!

As the photo-shoot-latte-production proceeded about a dozen regulars came in and bantered with Doug in a way that you would expect in a small town, with a small business owner.

Many businesses have come and gone in Kentville during my 10 years here, but the Designer Cafe has survived. I'm no business guru, but I'd hazard a guess that 5:30AM starts and friendly banter have as much to do with good business sense as fresh offerings and organic, free-trade coffee...