gemini://di.cities.yesterweb.org/entry/220820.gmi

9am: I’m heading in to work. He is parked outside of the café, sitting in his car, waiting for us to open in an hour.

10am: Shortly before we open, he comes to the door of the Barnes & Noble and waits for the manager to unlock the door. Straight away, he heads for the café.

He orders two hard boiled eggs, some egg salad sandwiches, some chicken salad sandwiches, a bottle of ginger ale, a bottle of mango juice, a green tea latte, and two peanut butter pies.

“That’ll be $40,” I say.

“Very cool,” he smiles.

He sits at the large table by himself, sampling the food he bought, and throws out what he didn’t finish.

10:30am: He walks by and says something to me, but he mumbles and I can’t hear him. He looks happy, at least. I smile and nod.

12pm: He comes in again and orders another large green tea latte, watching me make it very closely.

He does this everyday.

He is the most interesting man in the world.

My days as a barista are numbered, so I’ve decided to cement my legacy with my own custom Starbucks drink. I call it oatmilk alla stracciatella.

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For those with access to a barista station, here is the recipe:

Add however much white mocha sauce it takes to put a smile on your face. Add 1 pump of vanilla syrup. Pour in oatmilk to the top line and stir, stir, stir. Add ice if you’re serving it cold; steam the milk if you’re serving it hot. Layer a shot of espresso on top. Then, drizzle chocolate sauce on top.

Et voilà, a sweet dessert-y drink. The oatmilk saves it from tasting too sickly sweet, at least to me.

The name comes from the signature Italian gelato flavor, stracciatella. I tasted it when I visited Cinque Terre, a beautiful coastal area in Italy.

Lately, I’ve been looking back on the day I spent exploring the towns in Cinque Terre. Checking in at Cristian’s website and seeing his photos from Riomaggiore and Manarola (all the way down on the page) reminded me of it.

This morning, I had a vivid dream that I was revisiting that place with Mr. Spock, and wearing a tight, silky bright pink dress.

A ghost story

A recipe