Empire Espresso Bar

Belgian Beer Tasting!

2012-01-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

Thursday January 26th we will be hosting an all Trappist Belgian Beer tasting.
7PM
$20...includes 6 beer tastes and all you can eat waffles!

The lineup of beers:
Rochefort 6,8, and 10
Westmalle dubbel and tripel
Orval

Merchant du Vin will be at Empire pouring the beers and talking about the breweries and giving some interesting facts.

Please RSVP if you would like to come...
empirecolumbiacity@gmail.com

Beer and Cheese Tasting!

2011-12-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

Thursday December 22 at 7PM

5 wintery beers paired with 5 cheeses
Hosted by Merchant du Vin

Learn about what makes a good pairing and
a little history on some historic European breweries.

Please reserve your seat!
email us at:
empirecolumbiacity@gmail.com

WINE!

2011-10-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Thursday November 3rd we will be hosting our first ever wine tasting!
Tristan from Small Vineyards will be pouring 6 wines from France, Spain, and Portugal.
These are all wines we are going to carry in the shop.

7-9PM
Cost is $5. Light appetizers will be provided.

We hope to see you there!

Latte art

2011-03-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

I figured we should show a little latte are skills.

Tino made the macchiato on the top...nice!

I (Ian) made the latte on the bottom.

WAFFLES!!!!

2011-03-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of our evening waffles...

Ham+Scallions+Creme Fraiche

followed by

Nutella+Banana+Whipped Cream+Toasted Almonds

What we have now...

2011-03-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since we have updated our blog. Let me fill you in on what we carry!

Single Origin Espresso- We pull a different single origin espresso each week.
Pour Over Coffee We usually offer at least 3 different single origin choices on our pour over bar. Pour Over and French Press are our drip choices. We don't keep coffee in pump pots. Fresh coffee for every cup!
WAFFLES!!! A buttermilk-cornmeal-brown sugar batter that we make here in the shop. We serve waffles Monday-Friday 4PM-9PM, Saturdays 6AM-9PM, and Sundays 6AM-2PM. For our evening waffles we offer many sweet and savory toppings such as blue cheese, walnuts, and honey...lime and powdered sugar...ham, scallions, and creme fraiche. They are SO GOOD!!! You must try them!
Beer Our selection rotates. Here is what we have right now-
DAB lager
21st Amendment IPA
21st Amendment Bitter American Session Ale
Old Chub Scotch Ale
Orval Belgian Ale
Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout
Laurelwood Workhorse IPA
Laurelwood Free Range Red
Laurelwood Espresso Stout
Wine We have a short but sweet selection. Always 2 reds and 2 whites
Feudi di San Gregorio Rubrato Aglianico
Hudson Shah Malbec
Feudi di San Gregorio White
Pine Ridge Viognier-Chenin Blanc

WORLD CUP PICS!!!

2010-06-14T17:50:00.001-07:00

Before U.S. vs England

U.S. vs. England

U.S. vs. England...hi Frank!

flags in groups...thanks Drew!

Our "World Cup" Empire Sign

Back in the blogging business...

2010-05-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Whoa...a blog entry?

Interagency Academy's celebration of their RISE UP! performance.

An evening book reading and signing with wine, chocolate, and snacks.

the San Marco has been put to rest. Long live the Robur!!!

Running a shop keeps you busy and without blogging opportunity evidently?? lots has happened since the last entry. we have been incredibly busy with coffee, waffles, soccer, and World Cup plans.

Here are some of the crazy changes...

1. we have "earned" a new espresso machine!!!

2. We will have beer and wine as of June 5th!!! our unofficial beer and wine launch was last friday for Beatwalk. It was a blast!

3. currently our hours are Monday - Friday (7am-5pm), Saturday and Sunday (7am-5pm).

Everyday BUT Sunday will extend to 9pm with the June 5th launch of beer and wine!!!

4. ITS TIME FOR THE WORLD CUP!!!!! We will be open for every LIVE World Cup game. This includes the 4:30am starts, June 12th through June 21st!!!! a 47 inch Flatscreen Television will be joining us for the World Cup. Coffee, Panini, beer, wine, waffles on the weekend, and outdoor seating. Join us, the beautiful game, espresso, and experience the universal language of soccer!

5. we now have a fan page on Facebook (i know...)

6. yeah, twitter too. (empireespresso)

7. the buttermilk brown sugar waffles on the weekends are crackin'...and i don't use that word lightly.

we sincerely hope to see you all for the World Cup! come celebrate with us!

pictures!!!

2009-08-17T20:52:00.001-07:00

our veggie panini...herbed focaccia, greek feta, roasted red peppers, and spinach. some do it with horseradish too!!!

This is a cayenne mocha! an idea born from chocolati (thanks Christian!). Chocolati chocolate with a healthy but non-overpowering dose of cayenne pepper...yum! (picture taken by "tofuhunter" wcubeddottofuhunterdotblogspotdotcom

this is a view from the end of the bar area...i was pleasantly surprised by 4 garfield high school classmates! (eliza in pic)

i guess i'm happy to be in business?

This is what the bench looked like the Thursday before the open house!!! yikes!

pictures!!!

2009-08-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

a wild start...

2009-08-17T20:45:00.001-07:00

so i've officially been in business 22 days and it has been absolutely wild. this, literally is the first real opportunity i have had to sit and write a little about the shop. i am incredibly thankful to friends, family, new business partners (yay! to Seattle Coffee Works, Chocolati, Mighty-O Donuts, Macrina Bakery) for the enthusiam and support! it has been amazing to be back home in Columbia City. The reception of the shop has been overwhelmingly positive!!! i am truly on an emotional high everyday! business is steady and much more than projected. feedback around the atmosphere, the openess, and the coffee could not be better. and most importantly, the positive vibe in the cafe every single day is exactly what i hoped for when first dreaming of Empire Espresso. i am so thankful and excited and hope that those of you who have come for coffee these first 22 days and those who will in the future continue to enjoy your experience! pictures to come!

Open House!!

2009-07-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the beginning of lightrail service down MLK and the Alaska St. station Saturday, July 18th and Sunday, July 19th, Empire Espresso welcomed everyone into our "almost completed" shop and gave away free iced coffee! we handed out an estimated 300 iced coffees on saturday and sunday. it was awesome! Columbia City welcomed Empire Espresso with enthusiasm and excitement. i felt at home in the shop, interacting with everyone, recognizing many people from working in the area previously. Tons of family and friends were there to support our first "opening" of the doors. some people hung out in the shop to watch the tour de france, we received great feedback around the outside seating in the courtyard, everyone "marinating' in the shop, at least for a moment, relaxing, which is our purpose. it was awesome! and i thank family, friends, Seattle Coffee Works, and the Columbia City Community for making our weekend so enjoyable. i have included a couple pictures of the shop. if you would like some third party thoughts on the shop, visit www.tofuhunter.blogspot.com

again, thanks everyone. permit allowing, we will be open on Monday, July 27th. later this week i will blog a bit of the food and beverage news for the shop. this has been an amazing experience so far!!!!!!

more pictures...back patio sample

2009-06-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

more pictures of bar construction and plumbing...

2009-06-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

the first evidence of construction...

2009-06-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken last week. To set the scene, the entire east wall is exposed brick. the papered windows are the front of the shop which you could see in the pictures of the preceeding post. the wood construction is the epresso bar. it will include 3 barstools for the macchiato folk or anyone wanting to hang out and chat with the barista. contained within the wood bar construction will be the POS, the espresso machine, the panini grill, sinks, dishes, and the d'angelo CD.

3829 A South Edmund St. Seattle, WA 98118

2009-06-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

this is the view of the entire building from Edmunds St. the shop is in the lower
right unit.

The Beginnings...

2009-06-16T13:09:00.001-07:00

Marriages are created for many reasons, most from love, some from pre-determined matches, and some from convenience. Ours is from all of the above. My parents are local Seattle architects, whose acclaim primarily has come from their restaurant design (www.arellano-christofides.com). They were the architects for the four local El Gaucho restaurants, Flying Fish, Waterfront, and Brasa here in Seattle. They are also incredibly cool (hipper than i) people. I've worked in restaurants since i was 18, for Starbucks (4 years), bartending for the past 2 or so. i love people, music, candles, vibe, the occasional sub-woofer, and an amazing espresso macchiato. When their commerical space below their office just east of the intersection of Rainier and Edmunds was vacated, they approached me about a possible coffeehouse partnership. it had been my dream, since the crazy barista days on the university of michigan campus. of course i was down!!! and so almost a year later, we are slated to open a loungy, down-tempo, wi-fi equipped, brick, coffee bar for grad students, business people conducting their work from computer, people wanting a half hour of marination away from home, away from work. your safe spot, your small place of temporary liberation. morning candlelight? check. steel garage door which rolls up to a brick courtyard with tables? check. a little d'angelo? check. great coffee? check. efficiency from your barista? here's hoping...check? $1 coffee all day every day? check. and a new opportunity to participate in a community spot where politics, activism, and conversation are promoted, encouraged, and at appropriate times, demanded. 5-10% of all profit will be donated to a community non-profit every quarter, with the intention of being a conduit from customer to community. in short, we hope to provide a positive, almost hip environment where you can relax, marinate, email, read, debate, and feed your soul. we are incredibly excited, and on july 18th, we will host an open house, coinciding with the opening of the lightrail and its celebration!!! the following will be an update of construction and other developing randomness...wow! its actually happening...