In March, we had to say goodbye for now to our beloved café, following food industry restrictions put in place by the Governor in response to Covid-19. Gary Cooke, longtime barista (and one of kakáo’s first managers!), reflects on this change.

2012. There’s a new café on Westlake (not a real neighborhood yet)--kakáo. Some of the baristas bring textbooks to work: the quiet stretches between customers are perfect for studying. There’s even talk among staff about seats behind the bar to make the interludes more comfortable! While a few staff members are accomplished baristas, most are beginners. But no worries: sparse customer traffic means plenty of time to learn drink-making. And should a customer want to linger, café seating is no problem.

February 2020. Kakáo is absolutely humming with a positive energy. Two hundred fifty or more people stop in on a typical day to enjoy coffee, chocolate, tea, pastries or more substantial food, beer or wine. They come as individuals, in two’s and three’s, friends, co-workers on break, as larger groups, or Amazon teams … to relax, work, attend a meeting, celebrate some milestone. While at kakáo, they check out the current art display, or occasionally discover a pianist performing during the lunch hour. There’s no quiet study time for staff now: two, sometimes three skilled baristas race flat-out to fill orders. Many customers are regulars; they and the baristas greet one another by name; the baristas know their “usual” drink, and maybe some of their backstory. These interactions are about more than coffee—these are relationships. This is community. The café is filled with a kind of joyous, living noise—laughter, conversation, music, coffee-brewing …. kakáo is the door joining Union and the neighborhood.

April 2020. Kakáo is quiet. The door is closed for now. I sure miss the place. I know my coworkers miss it. I believe the neighborhood misses it. Here’s hoping the door opens and the noise starts up again soon.