Coffee spot
The Rocket Bakery reminds you of a bygone era. It’s not just the heavy wooden tables and stiff-backed chairs, the antique bureau standing to the side of the wood-paneled counter with an array of sugar substitutes and stir sticks. It’s the heady aroma wafting from the bakery ovens in the back, tantalizing each patron with the promise of sweets to come, mixed with the delicious fragrance of espresso and steamed milk.
It’s a throwback to a time before supermarkets and one-stop shopping. A time when bakeries and butcher shops were an everyday part of life. A time when neighbors met over a cup of coffee to discuss the day’s events. An age before digital communication – a time when bytes was still spelled with an “I.”
“Every week we get five or six calls from people wanting to know if we have wireless Internet access here,” explained Julia Postlewait, who, with her husband Jeff, opened the bakery in 1992. “That’s something we definitely look to add here in the next six months or so.”
Even with the eventual addition of digital communication, the centerpiece of a visit to the Rocket Bakery in its original location, 3315 N. Argonne Road, is the preanalog communication. It’s a place to meet and talk – for caffeinated but unhurried conversation.
“You can set your watch by some of our regulars,” Postlewait said. “We have all kinds of groups that meet here. We even have Bible study groups that meet here.
“My husband and I have a house today because of talking to the people who come in the shop. We learned about our house from someone coming in.”
That kind of loyalty came as a bit of a surprise, Postlewait admitted – after all, Argonne Road is a busy thoroughfare.
“I think Millwood lends itself to this kind of a place,” she said. “We have people that do what they call “the latte loop” and stop in here. Or they go for a jog and stop in here for coffee as part of their route.”
A big part of the Rocket’s charm is its artistic attention to detail, spelled out on the hand-lettered menu behind the counter.
The fruits of bakeries ovens are the stuff from which guilty pleasures are made – secrets to be shared only with special friends. Breads, cookies, cakes, pies, quiches, bagels – all made on premises.
Even the coffee calls for an artisan’s touch. The espresso maker requires a barista to do more than insert a cup and press a button.
“It’s the art of coffee,” Postlewait said. “It’s all in the wrist and how you pour. It needs a personal touch.”
Evidence of that personal touch is on top of every latte or cappuccino the barista turns out – in the form of an artistic flourish painted into the milk foam.
“I think they all have mastered that now,” Postlewait said. “We start with the basic rosette, but the possibilities are endless.”
The Rocket Bakery is a hub – a calm at the center of the everyday storm.