Jackie Danicki

As Hillary remarked, “That’s kind of like being the best lobster in Maine, isn’t it?”

My friend Nancy Rommelmann and her husband Din Johnson (who is Hillary’s brother, as it happens) were just awarded this special recognition from the great Michael and Jane Stern, for the output of Din and Nancy’s little roastery and cafe(s) that could, Ristretto Roasters in Portland. The Sterns write about Ristretto in their latest book, 500 Things to Eat Before It’s Too Late: And the Very Best Places to Eat Them.

A photo I took of Ristretto Roasters beans in a vintage French grinder a few years ago. I wish you could smell them.

Having followed the Ristretto story since before Din and Nancy even opened the business, this is a huge thrill for me. Nancy tells a bit of how Ristretto happened on their website:

Our first year [in Portland] was tough: Did Din want to continue to be a contractor, which meant working eight months of the year in the rain? He was 37 years old; he’d had enough of banging nails, or at least, banging nails with no purpose other than driving them into walls. I asked him, if he could do anything, what would it be?

“Roast coffee,” he said, and it was decided: he would roast for a wholesale-only business, based in our garage. He bought the Probat, on eBay. It was driven from North Carolina by what appeared to be, as they unloaded it in our driveway, two stoned teenagers. Din and his sister Hillary wrote a business plan; we got up some money from family and friends, and Ristretto Roasters was born.

They have since expanded to open another cafe and roastery in another part of Portland. I have not yet had the chance to visit, though I will be soon. I am not a coffee drinker, except on desperately sleep-deprived days, but I’ve bought Ristretto beans for many friends and family members, and all of them have loved it. As our friend Amy Alkon puts it, drinking Ristretto’s coffee is like drinking liquid velvet.

The Sterns are legendary for their compilations of the country’s best food, and I’m so glad they found Ristretto and have honored it - and my dear friends - this way. It is a richly deserved accolade for the coffee and for Din and Nancy, two tenacious entrepreneurs who turned a dream into an even better reality.

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