OCT 10, 2024 | OPINION | By Esa George and Brett LeVan
Ideas from Brunch:
After intending to visit Nightingale Bread on an early crisp fall Saturday, one that succeeded a Fun Run Friday, we were redirected after seeing a sign on their door indicating they were in the middle of their “Fall Recess.” (What even is that?!) So, to keep the plan alive and make brunch happen regardless, we headed to Switchback Coffee Roasters, a sweet, yet perhaps overpriced cafe in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
As we walked up, we didn’t initially see any Colorado College students. After several years at this college, we have come to expect an encounter with a classmate from Block 6 last year or an acquaintance from South Hall’s second floor two years ago anytime we make an off-campus outing. However, the bustle of locals on a fall morning rang through our ears as we entered Switchback, in relative cognito.
We had plenty of time in line before ordering, yet realized quickly our mistake: we had ordered the same menu item. We’ll blame there only being one menu in the whole establishment that was taped right next to the cashier who takes the customer’s order. Not our fault! We just happened to want the same thing and were put a bit on the spot.
Esa’s order:
The Shooks Run Breakfast Sandwich with sausage, hatch chiles, fontina cheese and a side of avocado mash. All on a Provision English muffin.
Along with an iced vanilla latte with oat milk.
Brett’s order:
The Shooks Run Breakfast Sandwich (no sausage), hatch chiles, fontina cheese and a side of avocado mash. All on a Provision English muffin. (There was too much bread involved in Brett’s opinion.)
Along with an ice honey lavender latte with oat milk.
Our coffees arrived quite promptly, right when we sat at a table outside bordering a window peering into the coffee shop’s adorable coffee bar. We agreed the weather was nice and the shade was pleasant enough to catch up on our very eventful social lives! We have the privilege of seeing each other at least once a week for several hours at a time as section editors of The Catalyst. So, although we both equally adore the newsroom, this outing was a much-needed hang-out outside those walls. For that reason, we allocated time to discuss our mutual love for student journalism at length, along with the drama of the weekend.
Esa had just visited Switchback 10 days prior and concurred that prices had increased in the past 10 days, causing a new menu to be printed — aka the single crisply-printed menu they have taped on the counter. Along with our meals, cloth napkins were brought out by a very handsome waiter we both agreed on. Brett quickly noticed the details of cloth napkins — in a cafe, cloth napkins speak volumes compared to paper napkins, which frequently find a home in a metal napkin holder on tables or alongside the ketchup and jams in those black wire baskets.
As Esa was participating in this semester’s Fun Run, she was stung by a wasp on her right arm. Right as we reunited in Esa’s Lunar Silver Honda CRV to head to brunch, she pointed out her sting. Esa’s sting scared Brett post-Fun Run and took much of Esa’s attention as she was communicating with her mom to figure out the best remedy — some Claritin was the ultimate decision.
While our breakfast was yummy, it wouldn’t feel right to write a review without adding a few of our personal opinions. The avocado mash in the little plastic container was a nice addition, but we felt like one more ingredient to the breakfast sandwich could make it unstoppable. We decided a big tomato slice would be best.
Esa mentioned the Sweet Basil Tomato Grilled Cheese that was taken off the menu her freshman year — the description made both of our mouths water, just like the mouths of dogs accompanying their owners as a big white bowl filled with leaf-cluttered water rested on the ground next to us.
Switchback Coffee Roasters resides in the middle of a residential neighborhood, across the street from a school playground and basketball court. A Harris-Walz flag billows in the wind at a paralleling house. Esa’s parallel parking was crisp as the only available parking required excellent or mediocre parallel parkers.
No printed recipes were available, only texted or emailed, and no artwork was in the immediate cafe seating area, just many plants enjoying the extraordinary natural lighting glistening into the cafe. Artwork covered the areas in and around the bathroom including a poster that read “Make Coffee, Not War.” Just inside the all-gendered single-stall restrooms were painted objects in black which contrasted nicely with the crisp white walls. We both acknowledged that the bathroom of a restaurant can make or break the experience.
As for our experience, we both agreed we’d come back to either side inside accompanied by plants and a cute waiter or sit outside on cozy-looking wooden bench seating and metal tables. We might try another option on the menu or stick with the tomatoless and overly breaded breakfast sandwich. We might switch up our coffee orders or stick with the same option, even though Brett’s lacked the honey taste of her iced honey lavender oat milk latte. As for Esa, she’s always sad when there isn’t two percent milk. However, oat is a wonderful substitute (especially when you aren’t charged extra for it)!