The downtown La Boulanger bakery and coffee shop has closed.

Just a couple of weeks after I wrote about the opening of Caffe Trieste, and the overall improvement in the availability of good coffee in downtown San Jose, two of the local coffee outlets seem to have closed. The first one I noticed was La Boulanger on Market St., near San Fernando. La Boulanger’s coffee wasn’t quite to the level of Peet’s or Trieste’s, but if you wanted a pastry or sandwich with your coffee, La Boulanger wasn’t a bad choice.

eMocha cafe is another casualty among downtown coffee shops.

Second, just today I saw a sign in the window of eMocha cafe, or maybe it was called Backdoor Espresso (they couldn’t seem to make that clear), indicating they’re “closed for now.” Hopefully that means they’re just cleaning up the decor, or rejigging the financing, and they’ll be back soon. For coffee made with obsessive attention to detail, eMocha, or maybe “Backdoor Espresso”, was the place downtown for a couple of months anyway.

On the positive side, I recently tried the relatively new Crema cafe on the Alameda, just a few blocks from downtown. The coffee was good, and the place is huge, with lots of indoor and outdoor tables. Stop in some time and check it out.

Sonia Giotta, daughter of the founder of Caffe Trieste, speaks at the grand opening of San Jose's new Caffe Trieste store, while the new store's owner and the Berkeley store owner look on.

In an event I’ve been anticipating for months, really since I had the best Americano ever at the Berkeley Caffe Trieste more than a year ago, Caffe Trieste’s new San Jose store held its grand opening today. I’d heard the San Jose store was “coming soon” early this year, and I had been checking the storefront regularly for signs of life. Apparently I didn’t check often enough, because they actually opened a couple of weeks ago, and I didn’t know about it until I saw the grand opening party announced in the Mercury this morning.

The North Beach Caffe Trieste house band was there, and it was planned for the head of the Caffe Trieste family, “Papa Gianni” Giotta to be on hand and sing his favorite operatic arias. Unfortunately, Papa Gianni fell ill at the last moment, and wasn’t able to attend. His daughter Sonia was there, along with Arturo (whose last name I missed), owner of the Berkeley store.

Tenor Christopher Bengochea performed an aria from Rigoletto.

Papa Gianni’s musical place was taken by Christopher Bengochea, a much-praised tenor, recently with Opera San Jose. Lory Stark, recently with San Jose Civic Light Opera, also performed a pair of arias.

The new store is centrally located on 1st Street, near San Carlos. They have plenty of seating, with a ground floor and upper balcony. About six staff behind the counter were struggling to keep up with the party crowd, but remained in control. The coffee was excellent, dark espresso, served in Italian style. A macchiato here is a single espresso, “marked” with a dollop of dry milk foam, not a syrupy flavored drink. If you like Peet’s, you’ll definitely want to stop in and try Caffe Trieste.

With the long-awaited arrival of Peet’s, eMocha Cafe across from City Hall, Bijan near Plaza Cesar Chavez, and now Caffe Trieste, downtown San Jose now has plenty of great coffee shops to choose from.

Starbucks Press Room: On April 22nd Starbucks will donate 5-cents to Conservation International for every purchase made that day with a Starbucks Card. Read about it here. If you bring your travel mug (save the paper) into the Starbucks on Los Gatos Blvd today and tomorrow you will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a fantastic Earth Day Basket. 14801 Los Gatos Blvd, Los Gatos, CA 95032 Between Samaritan Dr/Burton Rd and S Bascom Ave - Look around back for the underground parking garage

I met Nina Hautumm while waiting in the lobby of the San Jose Repertory Theatre. We were both there to see the World Premier of Sherman’s Way. I discovered that Nina herself was a moviemaker. Sharp Cookies is a short comedy (17 minutes) and is one of the winners of the ‘Vuze Audience Favorites.’ I told her that I would catch it on Sunday.

Reaching into her Cinequest Gift Bag, she came up with a 12oz bag of Peet’s Coffee. She asked, “Do you like coffee?” Nina doesn’t drink coffee is the reason she gave it to me.

Nina asked me, “Where are the shops?” She wanted to pick up a few things, maybe some new shoes. Without going into the whole where in the heck are the shops in San Jose debate, I directed her to Santana Row and Valley Fair.

Sharp Cookies

Vuze Audience Favorites

Dear Mr. Schultz,

Regarding the changes coming to a Starbucks near me, I have been warned that the warmed breakfast sandwiches will be discontinued by the end of the year. They do not fit with the pure coffee shop experience. One thing that will harmonize with coffee, and please customers, is the idea of free Wi-Fi.

I am intrigued with what you call Art of Espresso.
The three-hours of training that will refresh the baristas knowledge.

I do appreciate your efforts in keeping Espresso standards high, but why stop there? Shouldn’t every beverage made, be one of perfection?

February 26
Starbucks to close from 5:30p - 8:30p

DRIVE THRU STARBUCKS
695 Coleman Ave @ Taylor

After reading the post by Ryan Healy (Metroblogging Seattle) entitled, “Prediction: “Skinny” drinks from Starbucks will be off the menu in 6 months”, I was curious to try the new sugar-free Skinny.

Last night I stopped in at a local Starbucks on my way up to SFO. I ordered a Skinny Mocha, and a regular Mocha just in case the Skinny was as wretchedly bad as Ryan had reported. I braced myself for the worst and took a sip. It was good. More than good, this was a drink I would order again.

Could this be an example of the old saying, it’s the singer not the song? Could it be, it’s the barista not the drink? Better yet, can San Jose do coffee better than Seattle?

I found a San José coffee mug at my local Starbucks. It has been included in the Starbucks Architect Series. So now I can sip my morning joe out of the “Capital of Silicon Valley” for the mere pittance of only $9.95. You might note City Hall is not featured or even seen peeking out from behind the Knight Ridder building. A good thing? I should have bought more to sell on eBay. But most of all, I am just pleased to find anything in the South Bay that does not depict a San Francisco Cable Car or Victorian!

I was near Stevens Creek Blvd. at Lawrence Expy. looking for coffee. What I found was more than just coffee. What I found was the Barefoot Coffee Roasters.

It was like finding a secret time porthole in a strip mall. If I hadn’t seen the computers glowing on the sidebar, walking into the coffee shop would have been like slipping back to the bohemian atmosphere of the late 60s.  

This is a good place for hanging out to enjoy coffee, tea, pastries, and watching barista action. Not so good when you are in a hurry.

Tonight - May 2, is Open Mic from 7pm - 10pm.

5237 Stevens Creek Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95052 (408) 248-4500
Hours:
Mon-Sun 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.

Some good news: Hopefully by the end of the year Barefoot Coffee Roasters will be opening a new shop downtown San José.
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