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Q&A With The King of Vancouver Coffee

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…

Vince Piccolo is the owner of 49th Parallel Roasters and its 49th Parallel showcase cafe at 2152 West 4th Ave in Kitsilano.

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Scout Q&A

Default coffee drink of choice: I drink a single espresso in the morning with nothing added to it and a high grown Ethiopian coffee like a Yirgacheffe with high acidity which gives me a kick start in the morning. Of course I drink these separately.

Drink you’ll never have again: Crown Royal. Had a bad experience in College with it.

Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: Lululemon tights.

Favourite wine varietal: Nebbiolo.

The person you can imitate: My staff who think they imitate me. I get a kick out of doing it when they’re not around actually.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: The drug problem and resulting homelessness associated with it.

Cheap place for dinner: Giusseppe’s on East Hastings across from the Kootney loop. We have remarkable home cooked meals but they close at 7pm. I make sure I’m there early.

Book you’re reading: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (ed note: New York Times review).

Last place traveled: Mexican Riviera.

Biggest fear:
Ill health to loved ones.

Cliche that you use too often: “Come on man”

Best sneaker in the world: Converse.

Your ancestry: Italian.

Under what circumstances would you join the army: Never. There is no reason to kill for political gain.

Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: Was a farmer and herder who was born in southern Italy and fought in WW2.

Dumbest purchase ever: Bubble tea.

What are you proud of: My kids.

The thing that makes you the angriest:
People who take advantage of others. Child abuse.

Saddest thing about Vancouver: Homelessness and its drug problem.

Talent you wish you possessed: Patience. I think it’s a talent.

Sport you gave up: Hockey.

Mac or PC: Mac.

Best concert experience ever: Rolling Stones.

Aspect of your personality you wish you could change:
Which I could relax more in front of people.

How you waste time at work: Telling others what to do.

Town you were born in: Vancouver.

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Seinfeld.

Album that first made you love music: Mothership by Led Zeppelin.

Default junk food of choice: Anything with cheese on it.

The career path you considered but never followed: Medicine.

The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: Somalia.

Luckiest moment of your life:
Birth of my children.

Favourite book as a child: The Tiger Wore Spikes – a story abut Ty Cobb. I was a baseball fanatic growing up. I read anything that had to do with baseball autobiographies.

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Andrew Morrison is a west coast boy who studied history and classics at the Universities of Cape Town and Toronto after an adolescence spent riding skateboards and working in restaurants. He is the editor of Scout Magazine, the weekly food and restaurant columnist for the Westender newspaper, a contributor to Vancouver and Western Living magazines, and a proud board member of the Chef’s Table Society of BC. He lives and works by the beach in Vancouver.

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