I saw a show on the local Southern California PBS station last night, KCET, about LA Mill Coffee in Silver Lake. It was on the Huell Howser "Visiting" series which is a show that features the places and faces of California.

Seems like this is a place worth checking out, with a big emphasis on quality and standards in food and coffee that would make any coffee snob proud. They don't even have filter coffee which is like a donut without a hole in the U.S. of A. Also did not see any sign of paper cups, another very good indicator of quality and standards. Even filter coffee is made one cup at a time.

Some of the styles of coffee brewing seemed a little gimmicky, like the Japanese "siphon" method, but a place that's willing to spend about 10 to 15 minutes of a staff member's time to brewing your coffee in a chemistry set complete with Bunsen burner shows commitment to the customer. No doubt you pay for it, though. (Consumer Reports recommended siphon coffee maker from KitchenAid)

Espresso shots are made with the care and precision necessary to turn out quality, and no "barista" is permitted to work the espresso machine before they have undertaken 100 hours of training. So next time I'm in the area, I'll check it out. Anyone out there been already and got any comments to post? Go ahead.

The LA Mill Coffee is located at 1636 Silver Lake Blvd in Los Angeles, and their website is http://www.lamillcoffee.com/.