CANADA'S BEST BARISTA
Sammy Piccolo gears up to take the world on
BY GLENN BOHN, VANCOUVER SUN, JUNE/2003

A cappuccino is a blank canvas for Sammy Piccolo, a Vancouver entrepreneur recently judged to be the best barista in Canada.

The Caffe Artigiano co-owner uses the white of steamed milk and the reddish-brown "crema" from the top of espresso coffee to create artistic images like a leaf, a tulip or a heart.

"You use the crema as a chalk board," Piccolo said Thursday while serving customers at his West Pender location. "The milk is the chalk."

The secret of making coffee into art, he said, is to use fresh milk and freshly ground coffee, and to always time how long it takes to make the shot of espresso. Piccolo uses a kitchen timer to count out the 25 to 30 seconds that he believes is the optimum time required for "the perfect extraction" from an espresso machine.

"There's a pretty lady," said the recently married Piccolo when a woman in a summer dress ordered the next cappuccino. "I'll give her the heart."

And the customer smiled. Ahhh! Cute!" she said.

Piccolo won the first-ever Canadian Barista Championship on June 21, after competing with 15 other baristas at the 2003 Canadian Coffee and Tea Expo at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. Most of the competitors came from caffeine-addicted Vancouver, but Piccolo's best shots also beat baristas from Seattle and Toronto. Six judges observed the black art of espresso-beverage making. Baristas were tested on their abilities to make different types of coffee. They also showed off with their own specialty drink. Piccolo tapped the talents of a pastry chef to create something he calls Cafe Calabrese orange caramel, almond Chantilly and bittersweet chocolate, with Ameri- cano coffee poured on top.

Piccolo won a plaque he displays at the Caffe Artigiano at 1101 West Pender, one of two restaurants he co-owns with his brother. But the real prize will be an all-expenses paid trip to Trieste, Italy next summer where he will represent Canada at the World Barista Championship. And like an Olympic athlete who trains in a host city before the competition, Piccolo plans to get some some pre-competition counselling from baristas in Seattle and Italy before going for gold.

"Who knows?" he said. "You see snooker and darts on TSN. Maybe you'll see me making coffee [on the sports television station] on day."

Piccolo, 25, a first-generation Canadian whose parents were Italian, said he and his brother didn't want to start up a "typical Vancouver coffee shop." They wanted to make coffee like they do in Italy.

"For the last five years, my whole life has been coffee," he said. "Not only do I work 10 hours a day, but I also practice two hours a night at the other Caffe Artigiano at 763 Hornby Street."

Piccolo, who had his thyroid gland removed because of cancer, said he's focussed on the World Barista Championship next year.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be fine, even if l have cancer again," he said. "I'm young and strong."

Piccolo cited business reasons when asked why he wanted to win the world championship, but he also wants to come home with something to talk about. Just for bragging rights," he said.