I'm back from chilly and peaceful New Mexico, back to warm weather at the beach and hot tempers on the freeways. Nothing like inching along the 405 for no visible reason on a Sunday afternoon, then getting tailgated for miles on PCH by teenagers in a big fat luxury sedan to jolt you back to SoCal roadway reality. Another reality is that Diedrich's Coffee here in Malibu has finally closed. Gone for good. So I'm in search of a new coffee spot. Our options are Starbucks or Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and two indy spots, Lily's and Malibu Kitchen. (I'm leaving out actual restaurants in town that serve breakfast, like Malibu Inn, Marmalade and Coogies.) Here's the methodology: Visit each place for a week at the same time of day. Order the same thing each time. Rate the places on how long it takes to get served, what the service is like, whether they recognize regulars, what' the crowd is like, how's the seating, and is it possible to get away from the smokers. I'll publish individual results each week, then post a comparison at the end of the experiment. Bottoms up.