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My love affair with Caffe Nero

I'm starting a new series this year called "My love affair with..." It's an attempt to take all those products, services, artists, technologies, etc. that significantly influence my outlook on the way things ought to be done; things that are done so well, they change the world, the community, art, technology, etc. for the better. They set new standards and innovate, they make our lives better, not easier.  They are things that, if it were physically possible, I would make deep passionate love to, cuddle with, and even call back in a few days.

So this is the first in the "My love affair with..." series.

Swedes take a ton of pride in their coffee. They like it strong. Long, cold winters might have something to do with it. I'm proud to say, I live just around the corner from the best coffee served in all of Stockholm. In fact, I will venture to say it is the best coffee I've had in my life.

It's Italian coffee, so it's served by forcing hot water through densely-packed ground coffee beans. I will have my coffee one of two ways, Americano or Espresso. More often I will have it as an Americano, typically for breakfast or during a midday fika, served with foamy warm milk on top, and a bit of brown sugar. Sometimes I'll have it as an espresso with a cannoli dessert. No matter how I have it, Nero makes it perfectly. It's made in a way that only your local neighborhood Italian restaurant and cafe can make it. And Nero qualifies itself as something that, when it disappears, or when I disappear, will be completely and utterly irreplaceable in my life.

So sadly I've become strangely addicted to it. Every morning before work, I wake up and I walk just around the corner to Caffe Nero. Everyone knows me there and expects me there. I'm one of the first to arrive in the morning. With my Americano, I have a freshly-baked croissant (cornetto) filled with either apricot preserves, lemon vanilla cream, almond paste, or chocolate. And every morning when I walk in the door, they get it started for me, no matter where in line I am. I'll then sit down and savor the thirty minutes I have with my Americano, my cornetto, and my book. It's my chance to unwind before I begin a day at work, or to appreciate the time I have with myself on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I am typically not a person of routine in any way, but I am probably Nero's most regular and predictable customer ever.

And that's just the coffee. They also happen to serve an amazing Italian lunch and dinner menu which changes seasonally and includes some of the best Italian food I've had. The pan fried and breaded veal stuffed with ruccola and prosciutto is something you'll taste in your mouth for weeks. Their freshly-made pastas are second-to-none. Their service is immaculate.

And with their success comes great opportunity. As of today, they're moving their main restaurant to a far larger space just two doors away, where they will have a bar and more seating room (something they are in desperate need of) and their current space will eventually be turning into their fresh bakery/cafe after some renovations, something Stockholm is desperately missing.

Nero is an assault on the senses with their amazing coffee, their good, fresh Italian food, and their outstanding service and I humbly resign myself to the ridiculous power it has over me. If every place in Stockholm were like Nero, I'd never have any reason to want to leave.