Story pick: Beyond baristas

Today marks day 2 of the StoryLab team's coffeehouse newsroom experiment, in which reporters fanned out to coffee spots across the region, looking to tell your stories. In the spirit of this assignment, I dug for a piece that shows exactly what can be discovered sitting at the right latte-slicked table at the right moment.

In June, the New York Times ran a piece detailing how the Caribou Coffee across from the White House had become a regular meeting spot for Obama administration officials and K Street lobbyists. The reporter, Eric Lichtblau, wrote:

On the agenda over espressos and lattes, according to more than a dozen lobbyists and political operatives who have taken part in the sessions, have been front-burner issues like Wall Street regulation, health care rules, federal stimulus money, energy policy and climate control — and their impact on the lobbyists’ corporate clients.

Imagine being at the next table as those conversations unfolded.

Read the entire piece here. And if you have a story to share, let us know. Maybe we can discuss it over coffee.