Din Johnson, Center Stage

Willamette Week came out today with their Best of 2007, and wouldya look at this:

Best Live Coffee Show

Front-row swivel chairs are always available for Din Johnson's one-man show at Ristretto Roasters (3520 NE 42nd Ave., 284-6767). Johnson is no stranger to stealing the spotlight—in the '80s he used to bake shirtless in a storefront window along Northwest 23rd Avenue as one of Delphina's infamous "nude" bakers. But the real star of this performance is the eight types of medium-roasted beans pouring out of his steel Probat roaster. Nearly every weekday from 6 to 10 am, java voyeurs can catch all the action courtesy of the Plexiglas wall separating the coffee maker from his customers. "I've always liked to sit at the bar of an open-kitchen restaurant and harass the people making my food," says Johnson. "I felt my place should be no different." Just don't ask him to strip down; his bare-chested days are behind him.

So proud...