Jonathan B. Wright is a true Ann Arborite. Wright is probably best known for being a fairyologist and his study of the urban-fairy fairy doors. Before that (and still), Jonathan has worked as an illustrator and designer of products for children.

Jonathan received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan. He went on to design window displays at Middle Earth in Ann Arbor. Wright worked for 11 years at Colorbök designing and illustrating products and eventually started a new company, Giddy Up, where he continued that career.

Whenever he can, he will sketch to record ideas and events. Wright claims to have a poor memory, and the working part is a visual memory.

Jonathan says, “I do not consider myself an ‘Artist’. I tend to label myself an “illustrator”. More broadly I am a “maker”. Considering my surname, that seems appropriate. A Wheelwright makes wheels, a cartwright makes carts, a shipwright builds ships, a playwright creates plays…and so on. Originally Wright was more specific to woodwork. I make stuff.”

Jonathan B. Wright’s works will be on display during the month of May.  Don’t miss his wonderfully detailed and often witty drawings.

Date: May 2 – May 31, 2011.
Place: Sweetwaters Downtown (123 W. Washington St., Ann Arbor)

Jonathan’s post cards, greeting cards, and posters are also available for purchase at Sweetwaters Downtown.

For more information on Jonathan: http://urban-fairies.com/

While attending Chicago’s CoffeeFest we tasted so many coffees.  The stand out by far was Burundi.  So much so, that although we had originally scheduled a different coffee to be featured in March and April, I immediately emailed all the stores to put a halt to the original plan and order Burundi instead!

When Wei tasted the Burundi his immediate reaction was, “Wow, this coffee has no bitterness. It’s velvety and refreshing with a very clean finish.”  We had to bring this ultra-smooth coffee to our Sweetwaters customers to brighten the dreary, gray days of March.

One of my favorite first comments from a downtown customer:  “I love the Burundi.  As a student, any old coffee would do.  But now, I’m more selective.  I only want to drink really good coffee and this one is it – I can taste the difference and it makes me feel good.”  – Andrea, a longtime downtown customer.

Come in and have a taste. It’s what “grown-up” coffee should be.

]]> http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/a-great-find-for-grown-ups/feed/ 0 http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/sweetwaters-around-the-world/ http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/sweetwaters-around-the-world/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:04:46 +0000 Lisa Bee http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/?p=964

We often wear our Sweetwaters t-shirts and hats when we travel.  Many times people will stop us saying, “Hey, we’ve been to Ann Arbor and we know Sweetwaters!” We’ve also seen others wearing Sweetwaters gear in places outside of Ann Arbor.  So we thought it would be fun to post your photos and stories of you wearing your SW t-shirt, hat, drinking from a SW mug, or enjoying our coffee/tea in some exotic place.

We’ll post all entries right here on our blog so you can show the world how well Sweetwaters travels!  Prizes of coffee, tea, or Sweetwaters gear for the picture taken furthest from Ann Arbor and for the funniest picture/story combo.

Email your pictures and stories to info@SweetwatersCafe.com or post them on our Facebook Page.

At Sweetwaters we appreciate the importance of career and technical education and are proud to support and mentor our local students.

1. What is your favorite drink at Sweetwaters?

House Coffee…Black

2. What is your favorite Sweetwaters guilty pleasure?

Almond Croissants

3. Tell us about funny story related to Sweetwaters?

I was opening one day last Fall and the fire alarm was set off by another business in the complex. We didn’t know how to shut it off, neither did the building managers, or the security company….or the builders…or the fire department!

4. Who is your favorite Sweetwaters customer?

Ron and Dan, They both know my name.

5. Who is your favorite cartoon character? and why?

Gaston, because I think he’s hysterical.

6. Create a Sweetwaters drink or treat for your cartoon character, what would it be?

I like to think he drinks a black eye. Midnight Blend with 2 extra shots.

7. What do you do outside of  Sweetwaters?

I’m finishing my masters in double bass performance, grade music theory papers, work on stage lighting, rehair instrument bows, play bass with Dearborn Symphony.

8. What is your perfect playlist?

1)Mahler – Symphony No.2

2) Livin’ on a Prayer

3) Journey

4) Ace of Bass

5) Shostakovich Symphony No.5

6) Avenue Q

7) Anything Victor Wooren

8)Dvosak Symphony No. 9

9) Disney Anthologies

10) Big band era music

Executive Profile: Lisa Bee, co-owner, Sweetwaters Cafe

People— they’re the best part of the job and the most challenging part of the job for Lisa Bee, co-owner of Sweetwaters

Café in downtown Ann Arbor.

“I get to meet so many different people,” Bee said. “Not just the customers, but also the staff.” Bee said that  former Sweetwaters employees move away after college, but often come back to let her and her husband, Wei, know how they area doing.

Bee said that while customers are loyal and have made many useful suggestions, they’re also the first to let her know when they don’t like something or want something to be changed, from adding new beverage selections to repairs or remodeling work on the shop.

“I’m really thankful for those people, though,” Bee said. “Our customers set a very high bar for us. They make us who we are.”

Sweetwaters encourages feedback from customers in a variety of forms, including the ability to post “SweetStories” about customers’ personal experiences to the coffee house’s Web site.

“Those are so much fun,” Bee said. “I’m always surprised by the stories people tell.”

Bee and her husband both grew up in the restaurant business— each came from a family that ran a Chinese restaurant. Bee said that after college she and her husband knew they wanted to start their own business, but didn’t want to run a full-scale restaurant. Coffee houses were just catching on, and that kind of business seemed “manageable.”

Bee said finding the space for Sweetwaters’ first location was easy. At one time, she worked in the stained glass studio that used to occupy the space now filled by her coffee and tea business. Over the years, two new Sweetwaters locations have been added: one in Kerrytown and another in a shopping center on Plymouth Road.

Coffee houses are more common now than when Sweetwaters was established, but Bee said the “warmth of the atmosphere” is what makes her business unique. It’s large enough to host big business meetings but also feels friendly enough that people want to stop and linger over their coffee or tea rather than making a “grab-and-go” visit on the way in to work in the morning, Bee said.

Bee said perhaps the biggest surprise about running Sweetwaters is how much of a role creativity plays in running the coffee house.

“I didn’t necessarily expect to have as many creative opportunities, from product development to marketing,” Bee said. “I have a lot of fun with this business.”

Background

Education: University of Michigan.

Family: Husband: Wei. Children: James, Tyler, Connor.

Residence: Ann Arbor.

Business Insights

Best business decision: Opening Sweetwaters. I’ve met so many great people.

Worst business decision: Any time I haven’t made my objectives clearly known.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Listening to our customers. They always have so many great ideas.

Personal hero: My Dad.

How do you motivate people? Being fair and honest go a long way.

What advice would you give to yourself in college? Participate in activities that you’ve never tried before.

Word that best describes you: Reserved.

First Web site you check in the morning: My e-mail.

Confessions

What keeps you up at night? My kids.

Pet peeve: Dishonesty.

Guilty pleasure: Fresh figs and muscat grapes.

First job: Hostess at my parents’ restaurant.

First choice for a new career: Something in art or design.

Treasures

Favorite cause: Ones that help those that can’t help themselves.

Favorite book: “Who’s Behind the Fairy Doors” by Jonathan Wright.

Favorite movie: “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Big Fish.”

Favorite hobby: Spending time with my boys uninterrupted and distraction-free.

Favorite restaurant: Any restaurant that serves Hong Kong style dim sum.

LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter? Facebook.

Typical Saturday: Sleeping in, making a wonderful breakfast for my family, and driving kids to their activities.

What team do you root for? To the great dismay of my husband, I don’t follow any sports team.

Wheels: I’m a mom of three boys, so a minivan.

Who would play you in a movie? Julia Louis Dreyfus— she’s funny and wacky.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com.

View the original article here : http://bit.ly/azPbtz

1. What is your favorite drink at Sweetwaters?

Drink? Anything with that sweet rich liquid gold espresso we call Abianno!

2. What is your favorite Sweetwaters guilty pleasure?

Snickerdoodle cookie – especially dunked into any drink made with Abianno espresso! Also enjoying our customers and staff immensely.

3. Tell us about funny story related to Sweetwaters?

Story? Too many to tell! Other than the framed parchment paper masterpiece, I also have a little problem of getting words mixed up, I started calling the TL’s (Team Leaders) “BLT’s”…obviously hungry and needed a snickerdoodle!!

4. Who is your favorite Sweetwaters customer?

Simply cannot say just one, they all are special in my eyes, truly..but if I have to, there’s Matt, Jim, Ted, Sharon, Mack, Ron, Don, Diane and Gary, Emery….

5. Who is your favorite cartoon character? And why?

Bugs Bunny – none other! Suave, sophisticated…and so wonderfully sarcastic!

6. What Sweetwaters drink or treat would you create and serve to your cartoon character?

A double shot of Abianno espresso with a side of carrot cake – easy!

7. What do you do outside of Sweetwaters?

Garden, write long letters, play with my kitten, Ms. Minnivar Q. Pickl….and repaint my house all sorts of bright and funky colors suitable for a mid-life crisis but not for re-sale!

8. What is your perfect playlist?

Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Dean Martin, a smattering of Opera-and throw in some Tower of Power and AWB to make me young again! Does anyone other than me remember how to do the “Bump”??

Gary and Diane, two wonderfully devoted morning regulars, describe how their piece of “artwork” came about:

“Sweetwaters downtown had an art show called “Variations on a Square.” It was this show that inspired us to produce a piece of art from something we see every morning at the cafe, the wax paper liner from the morning cinnamon rolls delivery. We wanted to play a joke on Barb, a Sweetwaters’ morning manager, who prides herself as quite an art critic.

So, Diane and I took one of the cinnamon roll parchment paper liners, mounted it, placed a title card (just like all the other pieces of artwork) with this caption:

“Variations on a Spiral #13: Cinnamon Swirl”

for Barb

Oil (and a little grease) on Wax Paper

Priceless.

We took our “creation” to Sweetwaters and hung it up along side the “Variations on the Square” collection and waited for Barb’s reaction. When Barb first saw it, she squinted with a look like “what the heck” but once she realized what it was, she (and the rest of us) just totally cracked up…it was so funny. I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time, it was great. Barb liked it so much she decided to have it preserved and framed for posterity.

To be fair, “Variations on a Square” were quite good. But I have to say, there’s really something special about “Variations on a Spiral #13: Cinnamon Swirl.”  Like Sweetwaters itself, it’s truly an original.”

- Thanks Gary and Diane. You always make the mornings fun. Now, that we’ve permanently displayed your “artwork” at the new Sweetwaters at Plymouth Green we can chuckle everyday, admire your creativity, and be reminded how some of our best customers have now become our friends!

Moral of story: good coffee, friends, and a cup of joe = priceless!!!

Another love connection at Sweetwaters blossoms into a new marriage! Teresa and Jose held their wedding in Mallorca, Spain and to remember their first meeting they gave each guest a mini Sweetwaters coffee bag as a wedding favor. Teresa put this label on her favors:

We wish the newlyweds much happiness in their years to come and we are so happy to play such a memorable part in their lives.