deVille - in Art Central (not Fashion Central as there are two!)

So deVille, a "luxury" (whatever that means, perhaps the intention to keep rift-raft like me out) coffee-shop is located on the second floor of Art Central, 100-7th Ave.  Art Central (if you haven't been) is full of awesome shops, and of course, feeds my shop-aholic addiction like no other.  But we're talking about deVille.

deVille is a trendy loft and even has exposed brick to show for it.  The windows provide an abundant amount of light, but on this dreary day, I wish the curtains were closed (it's snowing after a beautiful summer day just yesterday...Calgary is crazy! Yesterday I was wearing shorts, today I'm wearing a toque!)  And...back to deVille.

My favorite drink here is the Nutella Latte.  I don't even skimp on the milk and make it non-fat - therefore, it's a rich, perfectly peanutty/chocolately goodness all mixed into one.  And the latte art isn't so bad either (although, let's get a bit more creative here people - this is a LUXURY coffee shop afterall and the "leaf" gets a bit tired after you've seen it hundreds of times before!)

I originally came to meet a potential referral at about 10:00 AM this morning.  The noise level was quite high and I felt like I was shouting a bit...and I had to fake pretend I heard everything - however, the vibe inside was hopping, full of energy.  It was definitely a place where business relationships could be formed.

After the meeting was over, I hopped over to the bar where I could get a bit more space and not feel like I was taking a table from someone else (a lesson I learned yesterday).  As lunch time approached, and my tummy started to sound rumbly, I was in the mood for soup.  Today's special was Potato, Leek and Bacon and came with high accolades from the server (who by the way was very hungover and couldn't stop talking about it...to clients, to her co-workers...to whoever would listen.) 

She was right, the soup was great - but look at this picture! I haven't taken a single bite out of the bowl yet.  If you're going to use bowls that big AND charge 6 bucks, at least fill it up (or invest in smaller white bowls...I'm sure they are out there...this just looks disappointing!)  However, the creaminess was delightful, the bacon absolutely scrumptious and my pallet was very pleased.

For a total of $16.00 I received a 10 oz Nutella Latte, a 10 oz Tea and Soup.  I guess because it's "luxury" they are allowed to skimp out on the portion size - but they certainly don't on taste (which is really all I can ask for). 

As for my workspace - it's actually really great.  To get on to WI-FI is no problem (they have a network access key you can actually remember) and I'm certainly not the only one who is working away here.  However, parking is metered so you're looking at $9.25 for 2 hours (highway robbery if you ask me...but really is no fault of the coffee-shop.)

The service - I'm sitting at the bar, and not one has asked if I needed anything else, or how my day is.  But it doesn't seem like that kind of a place.  I suppose it's a toss-up - do I want full service, or self-service? 

Workability - 4 out of 5
Service - 2.5 out of 5
Food - 3.5 out of 5 (but mostly just due to portion size!)