MY FAVORITE CAFE

[Zeds]

Hi Everybody,

My wife and I discovered Caffe Calabria in the hip uptown suburb of North Park,San Diego over 7 years ago when we were riding our bicycles in the area.It is the best Italian cafe in San Diego.... it is the best cafe in San Diego...it is the best cafe we have been to anywhere in our travels.Caffe Calabria has been around for over 15 years in it's present location.....a beautiful brick 2 story ex bank building.The owner / founder Arne Holt began roasting coffee beans all those years ago and sells a big range of his house roasted coffee beans to many other cafes in San Diego......we have been buying Caffe Calabria roasted coffee beans to use in our espresso machine at home for many years....they are the best we have ever tried.The cafe is decorated beautifully throughout with a number of different zones where one can enjoy a coffee.There is also the tasty paninis which are served fresh daily........Neapolitan pizzas.....a bar with at least 6 craft beers on tap...a very comprehensive wine selection and of course artisanal cocktails.The cafe is open long hours 7 days a week and yet no matter which day we turn up to have lunch...usually lattes and paninis ...our meals and our coffees are always the best.They have some of the most talented baristas you will ever see and they keep smiling too.Over the years we have got to know Arne the owner quite well...he will drop by most times we are in the cafe and have a chat about new things he is implementing in the cafe or maybe we give him our valued opinion on a new coffee blend we have just tried....it might be a new Caffe Calabria blend or I might tell Arne about a new coffee shop we just tried in another area.He usually knows them anyway.We love it because even after all the years we have been coming here.....the hundreds of delicious lattes we have enjoyed we still get very excited every new visit because the look of the cafe continually evolves and the staff always give us a warm welcome........and the coffees are the best. 

Cheers,

Zed star.

Neapolitan thin crust pizza.Great choice of local craft beers.On the front deck.Beat this!Latte art.Craft beers on tap.Sidewalk deck.The bar.Special event room.Barista making a brew.Conference / event room upstairs.Bar upstairs.Another event area at rear.Front entrance.Sweet view.Italian pizza oven.Rear garden courtyard.Enjoying our lattes as usual.Relaxing meeting spot out front.Bicycle art.Rear patio on 2nd level upstairs.My photo from Arne's upstairs office.Choice of pastries.Bike racks at the front.Daily Fresh sandwiches.Huge choice of coffee drinks.The house roaster.Freshly roasted coffee beans.Beautiful color and texture.January 1st,2017..it's always busy here.Delicious calabrese panini.Business as usual.The roasting room chill out zone.And we use the best at home too.

[TraciC]

Thanks for sharing this post and all of the lovely photos, @Zeds. I love when you find a place like this and it quickly becomes your favorite. I'm not a coffee drinker myself but looking at that roaster, I could imagine it smelling heavenly...and skipping over to that craft beer tap to enjoy a few pints. 🙂 

[Zeds]

@TraciC,

Thanks so much...I tried hard to describe our feelings about this wonderful cafe but I still don't think I did it justice.....it's just so unique and special to our hearts.

Cheers,

Zed star.

[LuisHM]

I love how they manage to do art on the latte! @Zeds Thanks for sharing

[Zeds]

@LucioV,

Did you see my post on my favorite cafe?

Cheers,

Zed star.

[LucioV]

Seen now @Zeds great reportage!

I have an expresso coffee machine every where i go, as you can imagine, i'm Italian 😄

But i don't have a favourite place where to have a coffee, for me it's like air, i can't go without, so sometimes a place is like another!

[LucioV]

Wow, they have their own roasting machine!

From the name, Arne, i suspect, the owner is from Germany, maybe son of immigrants, from Calabria.

Please, tell him of the typo on the menu: "Caffè macchiato" instead of "Caffè macciato"!

Thanks for sharing, it's like being here with you!

[Zeds]

@LucioV,

My wife bought me our first espresso machine in 2002...we are never without one.Reviewing coffee shops is my specialty and they are everywhere in America these days.We are both coffee snobs so we only buy the best roasted beans we can get.....around $18 a lb.We have a select list of coffee shops within a 20 mile radius that we patronize regularly but Caffe Calabria is our favorite by far.We are good friends with the owner / founder Arne Holt and we always make sure we know the names of his current staff.We prefer coffee shops that roast in house.....but the vibe & atmosphere is everything......the place doesn't have to be fancy but must have a certain panache or style.No paper cups thank you very much,enjoying a well made delicious latte or cappuccino in a porcelain cup is one of the ultimate social experiences to savor.I do it every morning of my life.Our old home Australia had a coffee culture in the late 80's way superior to the USA when we moved here in late 2006.The USA is in love with coffee shop roasters these days but Australia have been doing that model for many years.The independent coffee shops in San Diego are very good in general.

Cheers,

Zed star.

[LucioV]

Then you could be a real Italian 🙂 The coffee addiction counts as like a valid passport 😄

Here is my beloved coffee machine, a LaPavoni Europiccola, a pump machine built in the 70s, but still in production.

This is the new model, you can find on Amazon! 😄

[Zeds]

@LucioV,

Ha ha ....Caffe Calabria  have been roasting in house for over 15 years....all our most favored coffee shops roast their beans on the premises.Arne has his own style of showing off the process so you can sit nearby and watch the coffee roaster guy do his thing.We get invited into the roasting room quite often by a few of the owners of our favorite coffee roaster cafes......they know we are passionate about different coffee blends.As for Arne .....he is Norwegian but he will tell you he has an Italian heart and last time I looked he was driving a red Maserati...my favorite brand of car even though I drive a Nissan 350Z convertible.Arne visits Italy quite often...he likes to keep up to date with certain things important to him.....he keeps his cafe very authentic in the Italian way.I will introduce him to you when you visit California.I have written dozens of reviews about Caffe Calabria over the years but the one I have attached is my current Google maps review ..... Arne thanked me personally for my expert opinion has he called it.Take care mate. 

Cheers,

Zed star.