Sad To See Coffee Shop Le Michel-Ange Café Shuttered

UPDATE January 15, 2013.: This was posted on Le Michel-Ange's Facebook page at 7:20 pm today.
 
"Le Michel-Ange is moving to a new location and will we re-open on January 29th! We will let you know our new address next Monday. More coffee, more shows, breakfast, lunch and treats!! The same Le Michel-Ange in a new location at a walking distance from where we were located before!"

One of my favourite coffee shops in Ottawa was Le Michel-Ange at 35 Laurel Street near Devonshire Public School. Sadly, after just a year and half, it is no more.

It was a destination stop for me. Located on the east edge of Hintonburg, it was not on my regular travel routes. But when I went, Louise Rousseau would make my small double shot latte with passion and care. No rushing. Selfishly, I liked when I was the only customer in line at that moment. No one to mess with her concentration. Because Louise loves to chat.

She once cheerfully shared the whys and hows about what she did to make that latte so tasty for me.  Had I stayed longer, I am sure she would have had me pulling levers and turning knobs. When I knew I was headed that way, I looked forward to it. It was warming to know that the soon-to-be-sipped latte was going to be good. Really good. Louise had the skills to deliver consistently but she also took the care of an artisan barista.

I happily recommended Le Michel-Ange regularly, whether Twitter or Facebook, to anyone asking for a good latte. Particularly, out-of-towners needing a decent fix. I get that desire to not experiment with coffee when you're in a new city. In fact, I would specially meet up with out-of-town tweeps to share in the goods. (Decent internet coffee content thankfully got me safely and reliably around Denmark in October.)

I had just paid a visit to Louise late in November. Little did I realize that it would be my last.

To Louise, wherever you may be, bonne chance. Thank-you for making my coffee with heart.