Building a Home Cafe for Two

The most exciting new addition to the apartment is our espresso machine. We opted for the Breville Barista Express because, frankly, it’s very pretty, and we’ve been told it is a great starter machine for amateur coffee enthusiasts.

J has been practicing getting a nice pull out of the machine. He spent months while we were saving up for a machine watching tons of espresso pulling videos online and drooling over all the accessories and designs that people have come up with to deck out their coffee stations at home.

I started sketching out the design in my notebook for our little at-home cafe so we can start building and collecting the pieces little-by-little. I originally wanted a big, beautiful, vintage, mid-century teak hutch or credenza for the coffee bar. I had a vision of vibrant green pothos vines draping down the wooden sides, soaking in the morning sun as the espresso machine poured out a foamy Sunday morning shot.

J wanted something more minimal, clean, and bright. His main complaint about my interior choices is how much heavy wood tones I want to cram into every corner of the apartment. Since he cleans the kitchen daily (and I rarely do), and because he is the one spearheading the Cafe Campaign in our household, I deferred to him on the design. The midcentury piece will (hopefully manifest itself affordably, soon) hold our record player elsewhere in the apartment.

I love the blank canvas that a new apartment brings, but I’m combating the urge to compare what I’m designing this little corner to be with what I see elsewhere. I feel less confident after I come up with an idea that works for our space and then see a video with a coffee bar expertly designed with a custom USM Haller credenza set up under their mini La Marzocco and the most stunning art and somehow the best lighting at the same time.

Most days I think I would kill for designer pieces, but I also know the biggest sense of pride and satisfaction in any creative or design challenge comes when I’m falling in love with something extraordinarily unassuming or random. My creativity is sparked brighter from that chemical love somewhere deep inside, rather than a knowledge or learned appreciation of what is supposed to be beloved and respected.

One of my favorite projects was a little wooden bookshelf I found for $20 in a thrift store back in my early twenties. My brother and I hauled ass up several hills carrying it back to the car, and when I got home I painted it a vibrant mustard yellow simply because I just loved that color and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wanted to stare at that color every day. It clashed with absolutely everything I owned and the color was, at the time, very out of trend, but I kept it for many years and when we had to sell most of our belongings to move to San Francisco, I made sure to donate it somewhere I knew someone who would appreciate it would find it. On my best days I know I should push my seething envy aside and keep dreaming up ideas until the next mustard yellow bookshelf is ready to pull my heartstrings along until it takes shape.

In the meantime, J has been practicing and pulling espresso shots every day for the past couple months, and everything except latte art is going well.

This morning we’re brewing beans that we picked up in San Jose at Moonwake Coffee Roasters. J has been asking baristas when we go out to get coffee which beans they’re using in their espresso drinks, so today we’re trying the finca el analia blend that was recommended. The tasting notes are diner grape jelly, dark rum, and chocolate. I’m still deciding if I think tasting notes are real, but I do think it tastes pretty good. My palate is refined only enough to tell bad coffee and good coffee, and above “good” everything is just really enjoyable to me. I’m an easy customer most days.

When we went to watch the South Korea vs. Mexico World Cup match at a bar, there was an art walk happening along the same street. I picked up a blue and white marbled clay hand-built ceramic mug from one of the artists selling outside, and it’s been the mug I’ve been reaching for most the past month or so.