At the 114 Royce St. newspaper office, we sometimes worked until midnight in the startup days. One warm night, I walked outside to the distinctive smell of freshly roasting coffee beans. A column of smoke rose over Main Street, three blocks away.
I followed it and saw an open doorway with a rope across the entrance, where Kaldi’s Coffee and Tea had been until shortly before. The owner, Teri Hope, introduced herself and explained they roasted at night and left the door open because of the heat the fire generated.
Specialty coffee, roasted on site, just wasn’t a thing in 1982. Starbucks hadn’t left Seattle. Peet’s had a couple of stores in Berkeley, and one in Menlo Park. The movement would take the world by storm the following decade.
Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company was a true pioneer, with a friendly atmosphere and a sense of aesthetics. Its name on the glass substituted a coffee bean for the second letter of each line, with each “o” forming a perfect four-bean column above the icon of an open flame. Don Faia—the renowned Aptos graphic artist who went on to create the cut paper alligators and palm trees for Odwalla bottles—designed the logo.
The business survived the destruction of much of downtown Los Gatos in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and went on to rock the ’90s as recession morphed into an internet boom. The cafe became a destination for Spandex-clad bicyclists and post-exercise class coffee drinkers, perched on the stone planter wall out front.
It expanded into an adjacent storefront and started serving beer and hosting live music at night. Through it all, Hope, who built a successful enterprise with money from selling an old camper van, must have mentored and employed more than 1,000 employees. She co-founded the town’s downtown association and has been a visible leader in the business community.
Hope has sold a majority interest in her company, but remains the face of the brand. On Thanksgiving, a speeding Volvo smashed through street furniture and crashed through the windows, splintering cabinetry and counters. The force was so strong it shattered a door at Zona Rosa restaurant next door, spreading broken glass throughout. It was as if an arrow had pierced the heart of Los Gatos.
An outpouring of concern ensued. The 90-year-old driver, who ran a red light and never braked, was hospitalized. Fortunately, no one else was injured. The business will survive. The roaster, magically, emerged unscathed.
Faizi Samadani and Drew Penner quickly posted the news. Dinah Cotton was interviewed by CBS San Francisco about the incident the next day. And a video by Hope’s son-in-law, Scott Nelson, shared on our Instagram page, clocked almost a million views. The story had gone viral—and global.
A GoFundMe, started by the Los Gatan, had raised more than $20,000 as the newspaper’s print edition went to press on Tuesday. Meanwhile, crews in white bunny suits wiped down the side of the business that remained intact that morning, preparing for a partial reopening. By Wednesday, the fundraiser had topped $30,000.
(Drew Penner / Los Gatan)
Hope, whose rebuilding will be largely covered by insurance, is grateful for the support. She intends to direct the funds to employees who lost shifts during the unexpected holiday closure.
Los Gatos, it seems, is the kind of town where neighbors pitch in when misfortune strikes. It’s heartwarming to know that the baristas who patiently take orders and foam complicated lattes to keep the town caffeinated will have a better December because of that generosity.
To donate visit: https://wklys.co/lgcrc
LGCRC is aiming for a partial reopening by Friday night, in time for the holiday tree lighting.
