{"id":3967,"date":"2013-04-10T22:27:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T22:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/food\/best-barista-jay-at-portfolio-2\/"},"modified":"2013-04-10T22:27:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T22:27:00","slug":"best-barista-jay-at-portfolio-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/best-barista-jay-at-portfolio-2","title":{"rendered":"Best Barista: Jay at Portfolio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the course of two weeks, more <\/em>than 100,000 of you came to our Facebook page<\/a> and voted for your favorite people, places and things in this city. And now that winners have been officially announced via our latest print edition (you can pick up a copy at any of the 500 locations listed here<\/a>), we will be rolling out all 30 winners online–one a day for the next month.
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\"jayblomerportflio\"<\/p>\n

Photo by Greggory Moore<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Barista<\/strong>
Jay at Portfolio<\/h3>\n

Kerstin Kansteiner may be Portfolio’s owner, but 13-year veteran Jay owns the place. He’s not just there most evenings, he’s fully present, engaged with not just the patron in front of him but with the front room, the back room, even what’s gong on outside. Yeah, his customer service is first-rate, but my guess is that you voted him Best Barista because of his genuineness. He’s friendly, but he doesn’t schmooze. If he smiles or jokes or laughs in that unbridled way of his, it’s not an act. His wiseass charm makes you think this Pico Rivera native grew up in NYC (“I get that a lot,” he says), the kind of personality that uptight people find abrasive. But you’re not uptight. You know he’s not abrasive; he’s simply devoid of bullsh*t. And when you walk into Portfolio, you know instantly whether it’s his shift. Portfolio’s entire staff is great, but Jay is the face of the place.<\/p>\n

Portfolio Coffee is located at <\/em>2300 E. 4th<\/sup> St., portfoliocoffeehouse.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n