11.16.2008

First Year Anniversary!

When it rains it pours. Metaphorically speaking. We just hired 3 new part-time employees to help the season rush, which usually happens the day after Thanksgiving (the biggest shopping day of the year!). It’s exciting because we have a culturally diverse group: Japanese, Puerto Rican, and Spanish—not to mention our Vietnamese, Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian backgrounds. Right now, training takes place in 4-hour shifts. Soon, we’d love to hand the keys over to the most willing and competent so we can do more graphic design and pour extra time into marketing Banana Dang.

November 20, 2008 is the one-year anniversary of Banana Dang. We survived our first year with just the two of us running the show (except for help in cleaning at night). We weathered the “dry spell” of Rincon’s endless summer, and got a few accolades worth mentioning...

The new Lonely Planet spotlighted our business. Local paper El Coqui did a feature on Banana Dang (you can download the story in the November issue). The Hartford Courant ran a feature on Rincon titled "No-Frills Paradise" and mentioned Banana Dang. On Trip Advisor, we are fortunate to be the #3 restaurant in Puerto Rico!

Promo-wise, check out our FREE postcard with $5 purchase in-store (stickers coming soon). It also took a year, but we finally finished the Banana Dang Guide to Rincon—a complimentary 2-pages that features all our favorite hangouts and “secrets” of the town. We also redesigned the DANG Factory logo for our own graphic design business—and got a few more jobs out of it, including designing the visual identity for the 2nd Annual Rincon International Film Festival and logo redesign for Flying Fish Parasail. Images soon.

One of the best things we’ve done for our barista career is joining the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the social network Barista Exchange, a forum for barista “geeks” to talk coffee. The David Schomer bible, Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques, is still the #1 required reading for anyone who wants to up his or her skill. If anyone is thinking about opening a coffeehouse, that’s the best advice we can give.

In the near future, our vision is 3-fold: expand the seating area of Banana Dang downstairs and bring the DANG Factory graphic design business upstairs (with chaise lounges, projectors...). The other “dream” is to open a Banana Dang drive-thru kiosk or a Banana Dang Guesthouse in Rincon…or San Diego?!?

That’s life on the BD front.
Mario + T2

9.11.2008

Comings and going-ons...


Ahhh...the dog days of summer.

August was a surprisingly good month although it's slowed down since. The streets are empty as Hurricane Hanna and Ike ventured north of Puerto Rico. They were mild storms that turned heavy after they passed, giving us fun surf. The locals say the "spirit of El Yunque" protects the island.

Last week gave us a "breather" so we can upgrade Banana Dang for the upcoming season: a local woodworker made us some new pine bookshelves for our book exchange and merch area, we installed new signs and expanded our menu that now includes cinnamon toast, homemade delicious "Rocky Road to Happiness" brownies, Oatmeal a-la-mode cookies (with apple + cream-cheese icing), chocolate chip scones and the tasty Spanish sponge cake, Brazo Gitano.

And not one to be shy about coffee: We proudly introduce the new Puerto Ricans in town—Sandra Farms Coffee—from the mountainous region of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The roasters are a mom-and-pop team who walked in one day with the most pleasant sweet-toned aroma beans. In fact, we liked them so much we named Sandra Farms our official house coffee and designed their website. Also in rotation are Puerto Rican coffees Hacienda San Pedro, Yauco Selecto and Cafe Mananero, plus the award-winning "Black Cat" espresso from Intelligentsia in the States.

Yes, we do miss home (California). What we found out living here is that electricity and water are definitely luxuries. In the summer, especially, power can be knocked out for 10-15 hours, with water running empty for 8-12 hours. Every business has to have a generator, water pump and an extra water tank to stay afloat. Those expenses are costly but necessary. There's no buyer's remorse, but we do realize there are things we take for granted. Luckily, we're not living in a Third World country. Crime in Rincon are "crimes of passion," as the ex-owner of our home told us with a smirk on his face.

What's kept us busy and creatively juiced is our graphic design business—now officially DANG Factory. It falls under the marketing umbrella of Banana Dang and stands for Design, Art, Network and Graphics. We've designed posters for the local chapter of Surfrider Foundation, logos and brochures for Lazy Parrot, Belmar Parasail and a slew of indie businesses in the area. DANG Factory has a website on its way. Next month, we are debuting our new ads for local paper El Coqui.

We're off to the water every day to snorkel or surf. It's a luxury you can't get back home on a daily basis. To love Rincon, you have to love the ocean or nature. There is relatively no materialism and people do live off the land. We cherish this and feel that our experiences here will always make for good story-telling at campfire parties!

If you haven't been to Rincon and want to see what it's like—check out Gabriel and the Sea—a new 5-minute short by Brendan Basham of Tapas Bar (great restaurant located a few blocks from us). It's possibly the beginning (or the ending) of a larger project. Starring Paul Carmean. Music by Brokeback. Best seen with headphones and expanded to fit the screen.


Peace out, T2 + Mario

6.02.2008

Notes from a Tourist Town


Tourist Town: According to the Urban Dictionary with minor changes from yours truly, a tourist town has a relatively small population that seems to grow exponentially during certain seasons due to tourists. More often than not, these tourists keep temporary homes—they've got jobs elsewhere or sound investments to survive the rest of the year.

What attracts tourists, "snowbirds," and weekenders to Rincon, Puerto Rico may be the same things that attract people who live here all-year round: the surf, natural beauty, local goods, the "Simple Life." Interestingly, while some tourist towns double their population in the summer months, Rincon is the complete opposite. Winter is when the surf really happens—witness 6-15 ft. sets that even an intermediate surfer has no problem riding.* And every ex-pat who lives here surfs. We've met 80-year-old surfers, 10-year-old rippers, surfing moms, men of all ages, girls who shred...Everyone in Rincon surfs.

*Note: Winter in Rincon is about 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Some locals hate The Invasion of The Winter People: the increased traffic, the noise at all hours from people who don't have to get up early to go to work, the parked cars littering the already narrow streets, the demanding customers who get cranky when there's a shortage of water, frequent blackouts and worse of all—weak (or no)—Internet connection.

For those who are still thinking about visiting us and actually want to see us, I've outlined the best times when the "Invasion" doesn't happen:

Best times: Late May-early July, September-October, early November. Unfortunately, the "dead" months (July-Sept) are also hurricane months.

Busiest times: After Thanksgiving to Easter weekend, July 4, Labor Day

Life in a tourist town has its perks: Business cranks up during the winter months and owners rest up for several months thereafter. But resting doesn't mean the work stops—it just means now there's time to do maintenance: paint, build, landscape...Some restaurants and guest houses have already announced their closing during Sept and Oct and every business has excitedly posted their "Summer Hours." On top of that, Puerto Rico celebrates several holidays during summer and it's normal to see 3-day weekends every weekend. Work? What work?!? See pictures of us parasailing.

Every day, we wake up knowing that we live in a surf mecca. One that brings the invasion of thousands of people every winter—some who've arrived over the years to buy into the locals' quality of life, some who just want to escape "drama," some who've lived out their dream of owning land and being entrepreneurs. Generations of surfers and nature lovers arrived before us and have stories to tell about the advancement of Rincon—from dirt roads and horse buggies to grandiose hotels and condos popping up like weed.


Back in Cali, I thought I would miss my 50-meter lap pool—but nothing beats snorkeling after a hard day of work. It's only a 5-minute drive to any beach here: We've swam with schools of 100+ fish, schools of Tuna, tropical fish, lobster and turtles near underwater caves in the clearest of waters.


After all, one of the best things about living in a tourist town is acting like a tourist.

4.24.2008

NEW YORK!

It’s GOOD to get out of the house. We made a very brief visit to New York to attend the 3rd Annual Coffee + Tea Festival held at the Metropolitan Pavilion. The event celebrated everything related to coffee + tea. Funds were raised for the official event charity, Cup for Education.

New York was beautiful this time of year, crisp and sunny—reminds us of a SoCal winter. It was also great to finally eat again. Yes, I said EAT. For those who don’t live in Rincon, that’s the one thing paradise lacks—you can’t find diverse cuisine here. I’m talking Indian, Thai, Japanese (rare) and Vietnamese food? Forget about it. We ate like it was our last meal on Earth. In one hour, we had Thai at a Farmer’s Market and pizza around the corner. In fact, most of our pictures on this trip were of us eating!

At the festival, we attended the Art of Japanese Tea given by Tea Master Yoshikazu Tafu and tasted wonderfully fresh Sencha and Genmaicha, among others. We also chatted up movie director/producer Su Friedrich who made From the Ground Up, a documentary that shows "how an ordinary cup of coffee occupies center stage in the world economy"—or as we like to put it—the life of a bean. We attended a coffee cupping class (like wine—sip, swirl and spit), and were all ears when Chris Cason of Tavalon discussed the future of tea and recent trends in the industry.

Wow, we remember the days of attending Advertising conferences and Music festivals! It’s interesting to switch industries (again). But although the coffee festival was informative, the real education was on the STREET. We did recon at a handful of specialty coffee houses and observed baristas at Ninth Street Espresso, Grumpy’s, Gimme Coffee and Joe the Art of Coffee pour amazing latte art into our cups.

Ninth Street Espresso in the Chelsea Market was by far the best cappuccino New York has to offer. It's a bold statement but Ninth Street does live up to the hype as Kim—our barista—poured beautiful rosettas from Stumptown coffee. And right now, we're already gearing up to attend the 21st Annual SCAA Conference in Atlanta next year, as part of our ongoing coffee education.

On our journey via foot in the Big Apple, we paid close attention to the graphic design on storefronts, which was all about simplicity—the use of 1-2 colors and sans serif fonts. We appreciate good design and it was inspirational to just walk and soak it all in. Talking about design—we got back home just in time for the 1st Annual Rincon International Film Festival (see poster we designed for the event). Rincon turned into a big block party as it welcomed filmmakers from as far as China and Germany. There were a lot of great flicks–from comedy, horror, chick flicks, surf films to documentaries. We look forward to '09!

It’s been a great month.
Con Amor, T2 and Mario

3.22.2008

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh MY!!!!

It was BIG WEDNESDAY in Rincon—and even BIGGER on THURSDAY!

The locals tell us this was the BIGGEST SWELL that's hit Puerto Rico in the last 15 years. Everyone came into Banana Dang with stories about the surf—from surfers who towed in (like our UPS man) to surf photographers who nearly lost their equipment in 10 ft. "white" water! It was a big party on Route 413 - cars parked neck-to-neck to witness monster waves.

Here are some words from Mario below...

The BIGGEST, most PERFECT waves I have ever seen.

Last night on my way to pick up bananas I pulled over on the side of the road to watch the most enormous waves I've ever seen roll through the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve. They looked to be about 40 ft+ on the face.

The only way I was able to get a sense of scale was by watching the jet skiers tow in surfers onto monsters waves. This was something I have only seen in surfing videos; to witness it in person is pretty mindblowing.

These last few months have been amazing. T2 and I are having a blast at Banana Dang. We learn something new everyday. The support from the local community and travelers has been great and make the long days of work come easier.

See you out there...MARIO

3.06.2008

Blog with no name

Hello everyone.

It’s taken some time but we finally hired some employees to help us clean Banana Dang at night. It gives us 2 more hours of sleep and that is definitely worth it. They are not full-time but maybe soon they can be baristas/order takers so we can take some time off to surf!

IAN, our first hire, is 6’4” and would be a great model for Diesel Jeans or some quirky brand like Camper. He likes his coffee extra caffeinated and inspired us to name a drink after him called the “Vietnamese Ian”—which is Vietnamese Iced Coffee shakened with a double shot of espresso. His love for coffee is nearly equaled to his love for blogging. When not at our work, Ian is most likely at his other job making Tapas.

3 things he can’t live without: Food, water, music
Historical person he’d most like to dine with: Rasputin
How his closest friend describes him: “Boing! Boing! Boing!”

ENID is our Puerto Rican home-girl. She is not a coffee drinker but has tasted every smoothie on the menu—she is a big fan of the Mango Lassi, Purple Dang and Thai Iced Tea. Enid is fluent in English and has a passion for languages. She is unrecognizable outside of Banana Dang because she really knows how to doll up for a night out. Her hair changes on a daily basis but her smile (and laughter) is constant.

3 things she can’t live without: Perfume, music, pedicures
Famous person she’d most like to dine with: Diane Arbus
How her closest friend describes her: Silly!

On another note, we got our house painted upstairs—well, only half the house—but now cozier and more comfortable. Our favorite new thing to do is project movies on the living room wall. It feels like we’re in a private movie theater—widescreen, surround sound, popcorn and all!

We also cut down our Sunday hours to 9-3 pm which gives us even more time to do an evening surf session. It really does wonders when you’re able to re-coop—and we don’t want to burn out too early. Every day feels more like home as we scope out the area and get more familiar with the roads—and restaurants! We met more people in Rincon in the last few months then we did in 5 years in L.A. In fact…

We always get asked: “Do you miss L.A?” Obviously, our family and friends mean everything to us but aside from that...

We do NOT miss:

- 2 hours commute in what should take less than 30 minutes
- Metered parking (no meters anywhere here!)
- Billboards with crappy ads with fake people selling crappy stuff we do not need
- Long lines to get into clubs and restaurants (no velvet rope here)
- Attitude! (Those who live here are “perma-vacationers,” so most are relaxed)

What we do miss about L.A…

- Whole Foods, Trader Joes, health food stores
- “Real” car washes (ones with soap in the dispenser and scrub brushes...really, is that too much to ask?!?)
- Good hair salons
- Cops who give tickets when someone speeds through red lights going 80mph
- No mosquitoes, ants who attack, lizards in the house (although lizards are cute)

In February, we made it out to the Maricao Coffee Festival in the Highlands of Puerto Rico. Over three days the town's main plaza was chock-full of food + drinks, arts + crafts, parades + musicians. Of course, the main attraction was the bean. We found two vendors we were very happy with—Café Bello and El Mananero. Café Bello beans have a delicate aroma with hints of honey and cedar. They scored a 90 out of 100 in the cupping category, which is a very good rating!

Also—we debut the “Purple Dang” (acai berries, banana and strawberries); The name was thought up by Purple Telescope and has become the #1 smoothie seller at Banana Dang—even beating out Lattes as the top popular item on some days. Thank you, Sambazon!

The next few months will also bring more familiar faces from home as friends and family make their way to our island. We promise we will feature some guest bloggers (Tanya? Rosarito?). Surfwise, Rincon’s had a major flat spell in the last 2 weeks. We’re talking FLAT as a pancake. It was nice to go snorkeling again and we even found a new spot—Antonio’s—where we can see plenty of caves underwater, reminiscent of the movie “Finding Nemo.” For the uninitiated, seeing caves underwater can be kinda spooky, but very fun!

Enough rambling. Time for an afternoon cappuccino...

Con Amore,
T2 and Mario

1.28.2008

Marketing the "Banana"

Hello friends. We still can’t believe we live in Rincon. Last week, we took a day to go snorkeling at Steps — a legendary beach which got its name from the set of steps that clings to the beach — and it was postcard perfect. Crystal clear waters on a bed of coral with lots of fish — like swimming in an aquarium. This week, a 15-ft. swell hit Puntas; tomorrow should be offshore, 3 ft. overhead with great shape. And every day when we go downstairs to Banana Dang to make our first latte, it’s Nirvana. I still can’t get over the fact that this is my JOB.

On the marketing front—if there’s one thing we can rely on in Rincon, it’s Word of Mouth. We’ve been opened for 2 months and feel lucky to have a lot of regulars frequent our place. We did manage to do “real” advertising in local paper El Coqui (see ad)—otherwise, it’s about the word. The “Banana” also got on the map by the Tourism Association of Rincon and graphic-wise, we’ve been commissioned to design the 1st Annual Rincon International Film Festival happening April 22-26. We're also donating community time to design the 11th Annual St. Patty’s Day Poster benefiting ARF—Animal Rescue Foundation — and DANG art will be featured in Artistic Invisions Gallery.

Inside the shop, we hooked up with Uncharted Studio to silk screen our new American Apparel T-shirts for Women and 100% Organic Tees for Men. Our Café Press store is now open and features bibs to cups emblazoned with the beloved Banana.

Food-wise, we're excited to announce that Banana Dang now serves Banana Bread. After all, it’s only fitting that we have banana bread! They’re yummy and locally baked by "mompreneur" Robin. We also elevated our “Eggspresso” Paninis to feature Italian Focaccia — a great alternative to garlic bread with lots of herbs – and debut our feature drink this month — "Mango Lassi" – a traditional North Indian beverage blend of mangos, yogurt, milk and honey. Kind of like a cross between a smoothie and a milkshake. One of our biggest sellers is also our "Organic Granola Cereal with Hemp" sold in stacked Chinese food cartons. We even offer extra hemp for those in the know.

What is the biggest challenge of owning a food business in Puerto Rico? One word. Inventory. You basically have to order 3-4 weeks ahead for everything – not coffee — but everything else...condensed milk, soy, teas, peanut butter, cereal, etc. Even bananas don’t get stocked in the market on a weekly basis! Things travel s-l-o-w-l-y here and everything requires patience. After all, it’s the price of paradise.

Con Amor, T2 + Mario