Lila Victor, Special to the Daily Press
Spring's promise of new growth has taken root at Cafe Demitasse — literally. Fig and lime trees now shade the patio, mint and lavender curl from clay pots, and a bar built from the cafe's own broken castoffs anchors it all. The renewal isn't just seasonal decor; it's baked into the drinks, the design and the dozen years of sustainability work behind them.
Cafe Demitasse unveiled its new bar and herb garden in June, transforming the outdoor patio into a verdant green space alongside a new summer drink menu.
The bar features sleek butcher block wood bordered on one side by potted plants. Instead of a traditional coffee machine, two metal groupheads protrude from the wood, along with a milk steamer. A Kyoto iced coffee maker that looks pulled from a science lab, jars of herbs and two grinders round out the setup. The unconventional machinery was intentional — one goal of the project was to remove the barrier between customers and baristas.
Like many coffee shops, Cafe Demitasse rotates a seasonal menu. Unlike most, it now grows its own ingredients steps away. As part of the renovation, founder Bobak "Bobby" Roshan planted fig and lime trees along with mint, rosemary, sage, thyme and lavender, all of which make their way into drinks. The whole team helps develop the seasonal menu, with one rule: never repeat a drink.
"We just kind of play around with it and then we try to tie it into whatever we can find at the farmers market in terms of seasonality," Roshan said. "It's a playful place here, so we try to just have some fun with it and not take ourselves too seriously."
Roshan worked with designer Lisa Delena on a mural made of broken materials that lines the base of the bar. Opaque glass shards form leaves snaking across the wall, accented with pops of color from ceramics once broken in the cafe.
"My staff will tell you, for like eight years now, I'm like, 'we should build something out of broken stuff,' because so much of what we do is tied into zero waste and reusing stuff," Roshan said. He'd been saving anything broken in hopes of bringing the idea to life, and when the wood behind the bar began to deteriorate, he seized the opportunity.
The bar was installed and ready within a week. Roshan and his team hand-glued the glass pieces onto the mural, with help from a regular customer and a first-time visitor who happened to walk in during the work.
"It was this whole community feel," Roshan said. "We try to make it a space for everyone to participate in and use it as a venue for whatever." Whether it's a pop-up, a local school fundraiser or a kintsugi workshop, he said serving the community remains the focus.
Kintsugi is a Japanese philosophy and art form that finds beauty in "mistakes." The practice repairs broken pottery with lacquer mixed with precious metals, usually gold, so the cracks are highlighted rather than hidden. "It's just been always something I've found fascinating — taking something broken and mangled and then making something beautiful out of it," Roshan said.
Since opening in Santa Monica 12 years ago, Cafe Demitasse has built its identity around sustainability. The cafe is almost entirely free of single-use items — metal chopsticks stand in for stirring sticks — and uses reusable filters and biodegradable coffee bags. Its bean refill program offers customers $1 off the 12-ounce price when they bring in a refillable canister. The cafe compiled its sustainability practices into a Guide to Eliminating Single-Use Waste, published online so other cafes can adopt similar systems.
The summer menu includes the Green Dragon (matcha, smoky habanero, lemon-bergamot, a mist of jasmine and a jasmine flower garnish), the Castaway (pineapple-sage falernum from the garden, pineapple juice, tonic and espresso) and the Sour Cherry Sparkler (sour cherry syrup, black iced tea and sparkling water).
Cafe Demitasse is located at 1149 Third St. and is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.