Two Sacramentans with a decade each working in local coffee bars are set to branch out on their own this week as they open Insight Coffee Roasters at Eighth and S streets. Ben Lance and Lucky Rodrigues met about five years ago when they both worked at Temple Coffee, and their idea of what a coffee business should be is set to open Wednesday – possibly as early as Monday or Tuesday if all goes well. “We’re opening this to stay in coffee, not just to own something in coffee,” Rodrigues said. “We want to do this our whole lives, and this is a way to stay in it and not earn minimum wage in our 40s.” The premise of the business is to keep things simple while providing sustainable coffee to t

The owners of Dad’s Sandwiches recently bought a longtime downtown eatery and plan to add some of their signature sandwiches and rename it Dad’s on J by the beginning of next year. Mick Stevenson, co-owner of Dad’s Sandwiches at 13th and S streets, said he and his business partner, DJ Rogers, have been looking for a second location for several months. When J’s Cafe, 1004 J St., went up on Craigslist about four weeks ago, they had the keys within a few days. “We bought Dad’s two years ago, and we made money on the first day we were open,” Stevenson said in J’s Cafe Wednesday morning. “It’s the same with this place. Those turnkey businesses are great in this economy.” The J’s Cafe menu wi

Local watering hole Pangaea Two Brews Cafe recently expanded its operations to include a bottle shop with about 200 beer selections. The bottle shop opened earlier this month, and owner Rob Archie said he has plans to add a delivery service in the Curtis Park neighborhood in September. “We had our grand opening Aug. 6, and it was full in here all day,” Archie said. “The response has been really positive.” Pangaea, located at 2743 Franklin Blvd., is marked by its selection of Belgian beers on tap, and Archie told The Sacramento Press in a previous article that he has long wanted to bring a bottle shop to offer those beers at to-go prices. Beers are stored in a refrigerator spanning much

An empty former Starbucks at Seventh and K streets will soon be serving coffee and food as Plaza Cafe Lounge opens next month with an emphasis on bringing a San Francisco-style coffee bar to downtown Sacramento. “We want to make it a lounge place where you can sit on a comfortable couch or out on the patio and meet with friends,” said co-owner Zack Alemi. The 1,800 square-foot space will be outfitted with $10,000 worth of leather lounge chairs and couches as well as free wi-fi. A 1,500-square-foot patio fronting St. Rose of Lima Park will add seating, and Alemi said the coffee lounge will connect to the Antigua night club next door. Six big-screen plasma TVs will be in the space as well

The man once dubbed “The Soup Ami” by local media said goodbye to his loyal customers for the last time at downtown’s La Bonne Soupe Café Friday as he retired from a restaurant career that spanned 55 years and two continents. Daniel Pont, 72, said his retirement is bittersweet, since he loved operating his one-man shop on Eighth Street between I and J streets for the past six years. But he wants to spend time with his family. “I will probably take the next week and just rest,” he said in the small café Friday afternoon while a handful of customers hung around, sharing wine and thanking him for good times. “No driving, no working – just swimming pool, eating and sleeping.” He sold his bu

Somewhere between Broadway and X, a secret spring runs with water that brings happiness, relaxation and generosity. I’m not sure where the mouth of the spring lies, but you can get a taste by just taking a look at some of the great businesses popping up in this corridor of numbered streets tucked next to the freeway between Broadway and the grid. The intersection of neighborhoods seems to make this area hidden and accessible only to those choice locals who know where to go. Off Broadway Bean, known by so many as just another cafe at 2416 16th St., is trying to make its way by producing specially selected and freshly roasted coffees and container after container of loose-leaf tea, just wai

St. John’s will give formerly homeless women with children the opportunity to gain work experience and become more self sufficient with its new restaurant, Plates Cafe and Catering. St. John’s Shelter Program for Women & Children celebrated its anniversary on Thursday along with the grand opening of Plates. Guest speakers such as Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Assemblywoman Alyson Huber and Mayor Kevin Johnson attended, along with 350 supporters from the community. "Plates is  a very, very special place,” Matsui said. “It provides a place, a structure, a sanctuary.” After graduating from the 90-day program at St. John’s Shelter, Plates trains women with skills in the food service, catering,

After 20 years in business, the owners of Midtown’s Cafe Marika said they are living their dream – but getting there was no easy task. Lubomir (Louie) and Eva Chruma were living in Karlovy Vary – a spa and resort town in then-Czechoslovakia, but they dreamed of escaping the communist regime and moving to the United States. “We escaped in 1982,” Eva said. “We bought a vacation to Yugoslavia and crossed into Austria.” After seven months in a NATO refugee camp in Austria with others who had fled the Eastern Bloc countries, the Chrumas were able to travel to the United States with permission from the American consulate. Without knowing where they would be living, the two professional chefs

Good Eats — a cafe, wine bar and market by Raley's heir Michael Teel and partners — held its soft opening Monday. The gourmet takeout kitchen was a bit overwhelmed, serving 180 customers on the first day. Management asked prospective customers to be patient while any kinks are worked out at the market cafe, 3145 Folsom Blvd., throughout the rest of the week, said a manager. The official opening will be held in September. Hours are expected to be 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturdays and 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sundays, said Julie Rollofson, Good Eats chief executive officer and Teel's wife. The first Good Eats specialty grocer

For the past three weeks those who live and work in the Tahoe Park neighborhood have enjoyed Cafe Lumiere, an American-French family-owned croissant bakery and cafe. Co-owner Geoffrey Matsuyama, 28, has spent 13 hour days - seven days a week - at the cafe since the grand opening baking croissants, training employees, and making sure customers are happy. "I always wanted to open up my own restaurant," Matsuyama said. "I saw it as something I wanted to do when I retired, but it's actually good that I did it young. It's really a lot of work, and it puts a lot of stress on the body." The opportunity to open the cafe came through his connection to Peter Kuo, owner of Le Croissant Factory in

Z Spot Cafe & Grill, a lunch spot across from the federal courthouse at Fifth and I streets, has mysteriously closed. The cafe and its outside courtyard at 500 I St. were empty Tuesday. Tables and chairs were gone, and the floor and counters were dirty and empty. Cash registers and other equipment, along with food, had been cleared out, possibly overnight. A drink dispenser was the only piece of equipment left on the restaurant's front counter. Confused customers stopped by during the day to try to figure out what had happened. A woman named Lisa who works at the nearby Hall of Justice, 813 Sixth St., said she wasn't able to reach the cafe by phone. "I called today to order a hamburger

The 6-piece Americana-Rock phenoms, The Whiskey and the Devil Chaplain, are making their Sacramento debut at Naked Coffee on Saturday, May 22nd. The guys make up a fantastic mix of indie roots, folk and straight ahead Americana music. Formed at the latter-end of 2007, the Whiskey is making a name for themselves one show at a time through their knock-down live performances.  Here is just some of the attention they've been getting: “The fellas that make up this Valley-born folk/bluegrass group played just a handful of songs, but it was enough to make an impression. They opened a February night show at the Cellar Door in Visalia for genre-faves Langhorne Slim and April Smith, and both were

San Francisco-based developer John Stricklin came through Sacramento six years ago and fell in love with the downtown scene.    "The downtown corridor has really transformed in the last few years," he said.  He also praised the unique qualities of Sacramento's urban, yet small-town vibe.   Already a designer and restaurateur who owned an American bistro and a pizzeria in San Francisco, Stricklin set out to expand his business to Sacramento.  While driving through the Mansion Flats neighborhood, Stricklin was struck by an old, run-down building on the corner of 14th and E streets. "The building had been vacant for several years and was becoming an eyesore for the area," he said.  Strickl

 The corner of Broadway and 16th has always provided Sacramento with a sense of identity with its majestic theatre and beautiful garden. But the biggest highlight of the grounds is the Tower Cafe that will, on Earth Day, 2010, turn 20. The restaurant was opened by owner Jim Seyman, 60, on April 22, 1990 as a coffee shop intended for people to come and socialize, but with the aid of worldly kitsch, a progressive award winning menu and a patio filled with flora and fauna, the Tower has come to represent one of Sacramento’s greatest local and tourist spots. The menu has entrees ranging from carnitas rojas, a spectacular combination of pulled pork, colorful tortilla shells, and a chile relle

Paulette Coffman and her daughters Chelsea and Brittany are crazy about cupcakes. They’re so obsessed with baking cupcakes of every conceivable flavor that they opened their own business in downtown Davis called Let Them Eat Cake! The Parisian-themed shop features three daily flavors. Let Them Eat Cake’s menu describes their red velvet cupcake, Scarlett, as a “scrumptious red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting,” while their chocolate cupcake, the Dubliner, is hailed as a “Guinness Stout chocolate cake with chocolate butter-cream frosting.” Their third daily flavor, called Illegally Blonde, is described as a “fluffy, vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.” In addition to the three stapl

We're not sure why, but the sign in the window says it all: Sargent's Coffee at Alhambra and L Street on the edge of the Grid, is no more. Along with Old Soul, Naked Lounge and Temple, Sargent's served top of the line coffee for discriminating tastes, in an environment that was light and airy, with big leather couches and jazz on the stereo. I liked 'em because they used Ambience soy milk, which has no soy taste. Highly recommended. The place wasn't open long - maybe two years, probably not that long. Other business in that spot, notably Red Square (?), had trouble. But Sargent's Elk Grove location didn't make it even that long before closing a few months ago. Perhaps there IS a limit t

This weekend is Valentine's Day, Second Saturday, and the beginning of the Amgen Tour of California, so there will be plenty to do. Understandably, many people will be out in search of some good eats, to look at art, and to hear some live music. So why not do all three? This Saturday, Feb. 14, from 7-10 p.m. Vintage Cafe will be holding an art and live music event. Ana Candioti will be displaying her Afro-Haitian art to honor Black History Month, and attendees can enjoy live music from the DoubleLion Band, Ruben Lopez, and Ryan McCarroll. The event is hosted by Bridge to Art, a group of arts promoters, educators, and artists, founded by local art promoter and events producer Kevin L. Sa