Michael Rice wants to elevate the food and beverage world
It can be blindingly easy to walk past. Another new place, another same ol’ same ol’. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss sings;” the old adage. Another coffee shop, they come and go like morning dew.
It’s when we decide to stop and take a moment, when we peel back the layers of the proverbial onion, that we start to see what’s hiding in plain sight. Because some places are special.
Sometimes, the new coffee shop has a vivid and important mission. The Mad Priest Coffee and Cocktails grips this mission with tenacious candor.
The realization of what this place offers comes subtly, bit by bit. It would be all too easy to stop in, grab a quick coffee and be on your way.
It would be easy to pass by the agglomeration of tequila and mezcal hand selected from the owner’s recent trip to Mexico.
One could nonchalantly pass up the meticulously curated and heavily Belgian influenced draft beer selection.
Perhaps even if you dive in head first, you could miss the highly educated staff and their knowledge of these different selections, their history, how they are made, and their purpose on these particular shelves.
You could even miss the fact that, by supporting the Mad Priest, you are helping support a staff partially comprised of refugees from conflict-torn countries. The Mad Priest is full of intention. The longer I sat with Michael Rice, the intrepid owner of the new endeavor, the more intention I saw.
“I have two goals with The Mad Priest,” Rice says. “Firstly, I want to create sustainable careers in the service industry. Secondly, I want to elevate the food and beverage industry, especially pertaining to its location.”
The new culinary establishment has gone above and beyond to push these goals into the realm of realism. They pay a higher base rate to their employees and they cover parking. They require more intensive training for their staff and provide them with educational opportunities.
“We have an education fund for our staff per department,” he explains. “We encourage them to take classes, partake in nationwide competitions, and seek additional educational opportunities. It’s my responsibility to make sure people go home happy. I also empower my staff to learn the business. I am transparent with all finances and I encourage them to learn the business side of what we are doing.”
It’s the small things that make a dynamic difference. Even the bar itself is designed with sustainability in mind. It limits unnecessary movements and uncomfortable positions so that the job is less physically strenuous on the staff.
Both coffee and cocktails are world renowned for their complexity and process. “We want to represent the world,” Rice says. “Coffee and cocktails both have long stories that start with growers and producers. We are only the end of a lengthy undertaking. The drink that comes to the table is the end of the journey. We want to make the knowledge of the process available for those who care to learn it.”