Fertile Ground: The Invisible Garden of Workflow
Let's talk about workflow. In a coffee space—especially one centered on intentionality—workflow might be the most crucial element behind the scenes, without which nothing in front of the scenes would flow at all.
I've come to see prepping a workflow as gardening. The gardener knows that what appears above soil—the vibrant blooms, the fruit-laden branches—depends entirely on what happens beneath the surface. A gardener dedicates 90% of their effort to soil preparation, understanding that this invisible work determines everything that follows. Similarly, planning a coffee shop's workflow carries exponentially more importance than simply arranging equipment. The foundation must be cultivated with the same care as our garden beds for everything else to flourish.
Lessons from Seasons Past
Working behind different counters with varied workflows has been enlightening, to say the least. It's a way to earn while learning what works and what doesn't—risking very little while gaining volumes of information in return. This has been my experience.
Peeling countertops, persistent puddles, faulty plumbing, overflowing drawers of spent coffee pucks, and dishes—endless mountains of stained, clanking dishes. My colleagues used to joke that a barista's real job isn't making coffee but washing dishes.
After experiencing these variations, one unconsciously builds a mental inventory—like a gardener learning which plants thrive in which conditions. No laminate or poor-quality wooden countertops that swell like sponges when repeatedly exposed to water. No small trays for spent espresso pucks that require awkward emptying multiple times daily. No hasty DIY solutions that inevitably result in something breaking or falling on someone. Each lesson becomes a seed of knowledge for future planting. The list continues to grow with each season behind the counter.
I believe coffee professionals often dream of launching their own projects largely in response to this mental inventory—to create a setup and workflow that avoids these problems we've observed, and sometimes obsessed over, throughout our careers.
Cultivating the Perfect Environment
The opportunity to begin with nothing but a blank canvas—rather than adapting to an existing space with inherent limitations—can be exhilarating. It's like being given an untilled field rather than an established garden with immovable trees and awkward structures. For my countryside project, this consideration returns everything to first principles: What will visitors experience when crossing our threshold? How will people move in relation to the bar area and seating? How can we prevent the anxious line-waiting while guests nervously eye the disappearing tables? These questions are the seeds that I sow now which will determine the eventual harvest of experiences.
Through our destination concept—a planned coffee sanctuary rather than a street-side location reliant on foot traffic—we can avoid constraints that most shops simply can't escape. This setup fundamentally changes how people arrive in the space, how they feel upon entering, and the entire process of relaxing, ordering, and experiencing our world.
For this reason, the behind-counter workflow ranks high on my priority list.
It's worth noting that I'm not designing this workflow for someone else—I'm creating it for myself. This is my opportunity. Each thoughtfully implemented detail creates a cascade that results in smooth operations and better experiences for everyone involved. I'm not exceptionally tall, I'm left-handed, and I want to manage the entire bar independently. These considerations, along with countless others, will impact my bar design. Counter heights, whether the grinder sits left or right of the espresso group heads, steam wand positioning—when planning for yourself, these questions become somewhat easier to answer.
It also helps to work within a wonderful community of coffee professionals who have already tested equipment I haven't yet encountered.
"Have you tried that new grinder?"
"Yes, I bought one—don't get it, it's a disaster."
Asking questions, testing equipment whenever possible, and always returning to common sense, dramatically improves our workflow.
Tools for Tending the Space
This approach has led to preliminary decisions based on both personal needs and what I believe serves this project best. Take espresso machines, for example.
For our countryside specialty coffee haven, housed in a converted outbuilding, we don't want the focal point to be a large rectangular machine with a recognizable brand name that immediately signals a conventional coffee experience. For this reason, among others, I've chosen Modbar for our espresso setup. While not uncommon, it eliminates the visual dominance of a traditional espresso machine. By integrating the Modbar into a countertop specifically designed for our space, we establish the foundation for a distinctive bar setup.
This choice offers additional benefits: easier countertop maintenance, since all machinery remains below counter level, allowing us to build drip trays directly into the countertop. One cleaning nightmare in typical coffee shops is the neglected space beneath espresso machines.
Another advantage is the reduced working height. Traditionally, you have a standard-height countertop topped with an espresso machine on legs, plus a drip tray—adding nearly a foot to your working height. Over time, this unnatural position leads to inefficiency and physical strain.
One Modbar drawback is heat. With equipment below the counter near your legs, summer days could mean hours standing before a heater—potentially miserable. While equipment must remain accessible for maintenance and reasonably close to group heads to maintain pressure, ideally our bar would be deep enough to position below-counter components farther away, sparing our legs from overheating.
All these workflow considerations directly inform my equipment choices. The espresso machine, grinders, water systems, and even the bar shape must work harmoniously to create an environment where I can comfortably and efficiently craft exceptional coffee experiences.
Ultimately, this workflow isn't solely about comfort or efficiency—though these matter greatly. Just as our garden will yield the ingredients for our menu, our workflow must cultivate the conditions for these coffees to fully express themselves. We are creating an ecosystem, not just a service point.
When visitors journey to our coffee sanctuary, they should experience something extraordinary—something that required thoughtful planning of every detail, from the producer's careful harvest to the intentional workflow that delivers their cup. This invisible choreography behind the counter is the fertile soil from which memorable experiences grow. Like a garden that appears effortless in its beauty while concealing seasons of cultivation beneath, our workflow will transform good coffee into a truly memorable experience that aligns perfectly with our vision for countryside specialty coffee in France.
The gardener knows that the most beautiful gardens look as though they sprang naturally from the earth. Our workflow should feel the same way—invisible yet essential, supporting everything that blooms before it.