Espresso Vivace – Alley 24

Espresso Vivace –  Alley 24

Description on  Espresso Vivace  website:  Our charter is to research, develop, and prepare caffe espresso as a new culinary art. “Espresso Vivace” translates loosely as great enthusiasm and excitement for espresso, the new world coffee.

Neighborhood:  South Lake Union

Address: 227 Yale Ave, Seattle, WA 98109

Music playing:   Paris Latino- Bandolero

What we ate/drank:  Americano, Glazed Sprinkle Donut from Mighty O

Comments:  One of the surprising things about Espresso Vivace is that it only has two cafes(Capitol Hill and South Lake Union) and a cart(Capitol Hill).  You hear so many people talk about Espresso Vivace and how it’s their favorite that you start to think there must be many other branches around town, but there’s not.  To learn about the founder and the importance of Espresso Vivace on the Seattle coffee scene read this article:

https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/vivaces-david-schomer-is-on-a-mission-to-pour-the-perfect-cup-of-coffee/

They were also featured on the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations episode when they highlighted Seattle.  And Emeril Lagasse of the Food Network said, “Probably the best coffee I ever had in the United States if not close into the world… I gotta tell ‘ta, one of the best coffees I ever had in my life…they kicked coffee up into an art form… To see a place like the quality of Vivace is unbelievable.”  So Espresso Vivace definitely has a fan base.

And just like Caffe Umbria and Victrola Coffee Roasters, they have a very robust Education section on their website and like Broadcast Coffee and Caffe Vita they offer training. They take it one step further by offering both professional barista training and home barista training.

This is the South Lake Union(SLU) location that’s right across the street from the Flagship REI store.  It’s not quite in the heart of South Lake Union and away from Capitol Hill and Downtown, so it never seems to be crowded.  It also might have to do with the place being so big for a café.  I believe it easily fits 50+ people with all sorts of seating. I counted at least 5 group seating areas-standard tables, long high top tables, a couple leather couches. It even has a separate room.  I noticed they have two stations to make any rush hour move quickly. The café has dark brown wood walls, dark table tops and dark chairs, exposed vents are even painted dark brown and the ceiling appears to be dark granite (brown of course).  There’s even ample outside seating for nice days.

The vibe is relaxing and for me a place where I’d order a coffee, find a secluded area and read a book.  This is also a candidate to meet up with bigger groups along with Cherry Street Public House in Pioneer Square and La Marzocco Cafe

Ratings(1-5)  

Favorite Thing: Big space for large group meet up.

Atmosphere:   4.5

Service:   4.5

Food Options:   3.75

Overall:   4.25

Eavedropping  Convo:  I guy and two gals were talking. I could only hear snippets, but the guy wasn’t whispering and it seemed like they were talking about a lot of sensitive subjects. I’m not a tech person, so a lot of the terms they were using was Latin to me-OEM, Linux, Qualcomm, CDA, GPU inventory,

He was referring to a well-known local CEO by his first name as if they were on a first name basis. Some comments he made:

• I’ve made that guy so much money!
• When we were colleagues coming up through the ranks, I always used to give him advise. Now he’s where he is and all credit to him. <<He didn’t seem jealous of the CEO. I think he was more just name dropping.

Comment made about a colleague either applying for a job or a consultant who’s starting a new project:

• He’s very childish. He’s dealing with Oracle. Larry’s(Ellison) issuing 20 million of company stock to himself.

Another comment:

• She’s a female CEO trying to make it in man’s world. Good luck to her. I got a give her credit she’s tough as nails, but my god, the drama there is off the charts.