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In the Heart of Downtown
- Jan 24 2008
- 15
To tell the story of Café Corazón, you could, in one word, say this: love.
It makes sense, right? Corazón=heart. Heart=love.
That's a man's love for his women. Or a couple's love for their community. Or a gigantic, almost obsessive love for that perfect cup of coffee.
So, yeah, there's good reason Leo Rios and Liz Madrigal chose that name for the coffeehouse they opened on the Fulton Mall in November. It's what Rios calls Madrigal — his corazon, his heart, his love. It's totally how they feel about their community, why they chose to be downtown, on the Fulton Mall, no less.
And of course, they both love coffee.
It's how they met. Madrigal was working at a coffee place. Rios was looking for a good espresso. He didn't find it, but he did come back for the girl. “Even though I was getting coffee grounds in my cup,” Rios says.
Some people, the ones who search out such things, have known about Café Corazón's fresh-roasted beans for awhile. Rios has been selling fresh-roasted beans at the Farmer's Market on Olive and Van Ness avenues in the Tower District, and downtown at the Yoshi Now! flea markets for about a year.
Before that, he was roasting mostly for his coffee club at his work. This was in his garage, using a converted popcorn popper. The response was so good, eventually, he was running two poppers. When people started asking for beans to take home, he decided to get serious, borrowed $5,000 from a friend and bought a small roaster.
The man is all about his coffee.
He studies his beans, working with a coffee broker to buy from small farms in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Peru. He knows his roasts too, how overdoing it can cause a bitter taste and that burning in the pit of your stomach — even though most people expect a dark roast.
There are standards for everything at the shop, from the foam on a latte to the temperature of an espresso draw.
(Editor's note: My Americano had a ridiculous amount of golden foam, the sign of a great espresso shot).
The brewed coffee has its own set of standards. Same for the French press. Yes, it might take a minute or so longer to get your cup, but that's the compromise Rios makes.
This is a transition period for the café, Rios says. The former Café Fulton was mostly a lunch-time spot and that's what people know. The café does have food, soups, quiches and an assortment of pastries and baked goods that Madrigal makes each morning. It is also hosting events, including monthly open mic nights and ArtHop receptions. There will be a hip-hop event in February.
Rios and Madrigal will admit starting the business was scary. Still is. The Fulton Mall might not be the most popular hang-out spot in the world, the world has a lot of coffee places and Fresno isn't always nice to its mom-and-pops. But so far the response has been great. The Speak from the Heart event they hosted this month was standing-room only. “It was what we envisioned for what the coffeehouse could be,” Madrigal says.
And anyway, screw it, man. This is love.
15 Comment(s) for "In the Heart of Downtown"
Hey Leo...
Every place has it's bad days, but what sets apart great places from the mediocre places is customer service. By you coming on here and trying to make things right speaks volumes. I'm already a big fan of your guys' place, but that my friend was cool!
Believe me, I've been places where things have not been up to par and been expected to "deal with it". I usually deal with it by not ever going back.
I hope this customer will give you guys another try and realize her experience was the exception, not the rule.
Abe
It takes a dedicated person to know one. Being around great people like yourself and many others is what helps me be the best I can. I learn from you.
There will always be room at Café Corazón for our friends, stop by any time.
Diablo
The above post:
-have it bronzed...
that was freakin' beautiful...
Thanks for treatin' me and the 'squeeze like royalty, Sat. Night and making us feel so much at home.
Bless you, my friend, get some rest,,,
(She likes you guys.)
Finally I got a place I can bring my girl...
-E
strangely enough,
yesterday, as I was aping the counter,
checking out the new digs, and catching up with da staff (Liz and her youngin' -as well as the previously mentioned 'very nice girl,' who initially had sold me the pastries and coffee...
This tall well groomed (suit and tie) type came in, kind of bleary and looking around with
'...okay what kind of coffee to do you have, (etc. etc.)
Liz told him specifically what was there, asked him what sort of coffee he was interested in.
The response was '...I dunno, something expensive and strong....' (Difficult issue there, NONE of their stuff is expensive, but strong they got.)
The gentleman had to be sort of translated out of Starbucksian, and into 'just good coffee.'
-chiming in (surprise there,)
I explained that their espresso, ANY of their coffees were hand roasted, (by Leo,)
had been roasted just the night before, and that, though I'm a 'light and sweet' ('aka' regular (or two sugars / cream) kind of guy, explained to suit-dude:
'I've had their fiercest espresso, drink it black,
it has a tremendously smooth finish, isn't at all bitter, (doesn't bite,) and is like rocketfuel...'
'...oh god, That's exactly what I need, PLEASE give me that.'
Liz hooked the man up, (no sudden movements, we didn't want to startle the guy,)
he tried it out, and responded to the '...so how do you like it?'
'Perfect, that stuff's good,
totally what I'm looking for, okay, I got some heavy meetings to attend,
now I'm ready, man that was great...'
NO EMBELlISHMENTS HERE... (I could probably tell you the color of the guys socks if I cared to...)
Now...
Do I write a phonebook to death?
-usually always.
Do I lie?
nah... truth's way more fun.
This is the sort of product (if you can call such a great thing by such impersonal words 'product,')
THIS is what I saw happen every time Leo would hand out his coffee (often for free,) under a tent on VanNess and Olive (witnessed it with my own eyes, ---and with my own tastebuds...)
So.... yah.
Things went from THAT to 'cold egg sandwich with somebody who didn't know how to make espresso...'
doubt it.
(on a personal note:
-This AM?
Had the Origin Blend (drip through old Mr. Coffee, natural brown paper filter, unfiltered 'chem-loaded' Fresno Tap Water, with a teaspoon of brown sugar and milk... (large mug.)
A monster ham and cheese croissant from my local 'hmong-bakery,' on the corner (they rock too.)
and two oranges from a couple of sacks I bought down in Kerman yesterday...
High point?
My neighbor and I just did an 'airlift cat rescue' of 'Willie,'
a very cool, very skinny year old tigre-stripe tabby who's family up and left, and didn't leave him a map.
(deflea, deworm, and nackered, and got him all dolled up for adoption...)
---we figure he'll be in sleeping on somebody's couch and lovin' life (well, without his testicles) within the week...
(My neighbor is a 'Nam Vet (Army,) we don't screw around on covert ops, this was a good one.)
He's a black coffee man.
(the neighbor, not the cat.)
He had just come back from Uncle Harry's
(probably the neighbor and the cat, both.)
I was like:
'...how do you like this coffee...'
('origin blend.')
his response?
'...hey, this is good.'
Not much excites this guy, he's pretty mellow, all business, and very compassionate,
I saw the eyebrows go up on the first sip. (which, considering I was still standing there in my robe, hair like a rooster, not able to see much of anything, believe me, those eyebrows had to go up for me to notice...)
Nice work Leo.
(take care of Liz, the girl is golden, (but you knew that,)
I'll try to drop off some oranges next time... vitamin C and all that.)
-E
We'll work on our espresso skills. That is supposed to be one of our points of pride, this is not acceptable.
Liz opens every weekday, so when she isn't there we're set back quite a bit. That's why no boiled eggs or quiche. Liz came down sick last night. One person show this morning.
Not sure what happened to your egg muffin but we'll check that out too.
We have a wide variety of music in the CD player and since we want to be a source of culture we also play music you don't hear in too many places. Please feel free to ask to have it lowered, we're not trying to be loud in the mornings. We'll check on that too, I know we recently experimented with different music too and we're planning on removing a few CD's.
Please allow us replace your bad experience with a great one. Call Leo at 903-5277 so we can work that out.
Thank you for your feedback,
Leo Rios
Diablo
are you sure you were at the right place...?
I was just there yesterday afternoon.
Yes, there is a female employee that also works there, but she was quite helpful, knew what she was doing with coffee, -and I don't even think they sell anything labelled 'columbian,' coffee... (Their coffees are much more specifically identified.)
I know Leo was to have roasted more beans last night, had roasted the night before, and they have a machine on hand that can make espresso's and such quite easily, (some coffee drinks take a bit of skill, espresso is relatively easy, however, especially with a good machine, which they have.)
She bakes (Liz) all of the pastries herself, as well (I had one of the croissants, and two of the cream-cheese muffins... (they didn't survive the ride home, sadly, and I had croissant flakes all over the inside of the car and on my shirt by time I made it to the barber... (he was like 'dude, we gotta talk about your dandruff...)
Their music, though a definite mix, was playing at a level that was noticible (as in: '...hey there's music on, and this is a cool song (I think she was playing some nirvanna unplugged at one point,)
then it went into some other accoustic, then some early alt, then over to more neo-folk, and then into some (extremely well played, native mexican music.)
--but we, (Liz and I) stood there and caught up for quite some time, and the music was not too loud at all, (and I get easily distracted by music.)
...I mean, I didn't hear any Barry Manilow or Swedish Yodelling classics, but there's no accounting for 'shuffle-mode.'
--how long was I there???
how 'bout long enough to have popped a couple of quarters in the machine,
-and I still got a little red and white slip (with matching envelope) inviting me to the policeman's ball (not bad, 18.00,) and it said I was there for two hours... (which... nope, I wasn't)
-still it was worth it...
I don't even know IF they serve english-muffin egg sandwiches, let alone stuff that's wrapped in plastic... I mean, usually Liz is there making the stuff like, on demand...
...we're talking the same 'Cafe Corazon,' on the Fulton Mall, right??? (in Fresno, California, Northern Hemisphere of the third rock from the sun,,, right?)
Since my schedule was different this morning than most mornings, I stopped by Café Corazon for my espresso and a bite to eat. Leo and Liz did not seem to be there and I have tried the espresso made by this employee on two other occasions and have come to the conclusion that she can not make espresso and does not seem very interested in learning. So, I enjoyed a great cup of Columbian Coffee.
As far as food I ordered a boiled egg and toast, not available this moring, then I tried to order a slice of quiche, also not available, I was informed that they did have breakfast sandwiches so I ordered the sausage on english muffin. This was presented to me warm wrapped in an excessive amount of plastic wrap that had melted together in warming process (microwave?). Once I finally forced it open I noticed that the English Muffin either had not been toasted or that it became soggy in the warming process.
It is a good thing that I came alone because the music (which I don't enjoy and will only appeal to small portions of the population) was so loud it would have been impossible to hold a conversation across the table.
I will try them again because I like the idea that Leo and Liz have and I hope that it will eventually appeal to a more diverse population. BTW parking is easy at 7 am on Fresno Steet.
I wanted to talk to you more and post about that. I think we should get some more input off of Famous here too. United, we are stronger and form a louder voice for downtown.
Just as an aside, Saturday night was pretty cool here in downtown. Mezcal, Smokehouse, Crest, Milano and Café Corazon all had something going on.
Thanks to all that showed up to say they love Fresno, it feels good to hear it.
Diablo
thereminman has a good point and one that both of us have already explored. thanks to you and 559rel and the others for the downtown support. i'm sure you will see something soon done with both places. right, leo?
kendall
House, as in house music. Usually a little euro techno fast beat.
We're located at 1145 Fulton Mall. Just off Fresno Street about 4 doors in from th Guarantee building.
Sorry I didn't find this post sooner. Last night was awesome. DJ Envy has incredible skill. We'll be doing this again.
Diablo
the great people who support us, especially the Famous readers. The least we can do is offer the 2 for 1 on our coffee drinks, or if you're flying solo have one just for you for free. We'll be offering this all weekend to you, just say 'I Love Fresno'.
(ed, I totally forgot about the free drink the other day you came by for beans, I won't forget again)
Thank you all,
Leo and Liz
Sounds good. I'll come down to the Mall for some of your tasty brew. The story in 7 today was very nice.
Ok, here's an idea I had while walking around this eve----I'm not sure if it's orginal, maybe you guys have already thought of it/talked of it---but since Cafe' Corazon and Milanos are neighbors, and since they both do the occassional night of entertainment....I wonder if you two could coordinate ....I'm not sure how it would work...but have a couple of 'shows' going concurrently that people could walk back and forth to enjoy.
Like the same idea when there's a couple of music clubs on the same block and one might enjoy one for a while then go to the other----but something 'coordinated'. Kind of like how Art Hop is...but just between the two of you...and more 'entertainment' oriented?
Yeah, it's a 'vague' idea. But something's there maybe.
---anyways, love the place mr. diablo.
...But I will support Cafe Corazon!!! I've met two great people in Leo and Liz :-D
I can tell they care about people, what they do, coffee, each other, and even Downtown Fresno (go figure ;-)!!!
Although, I couldn't get myself to drink coffee on my first night there, I did try out a VERY good sandwich and a piece of coffee cake...and I got to experience a pretty dang cool environment in tha cafe as a whole.
I made my round to Milano this week (as they are another good spot that I try to support when I can), but I plan to venture back to Cafe Corazon in tha not so distant future.
Keep doing your thang guys! and I hope all of your events turn out as great as tha Speak Your Heart open mic night! Good stuff. :-)
Great to meet you guys, I'll be back for that Frappe!!!
~Rell www.myspace.com/559rell www.myspace.com/trellthareallamane (music production)
i'm so glad they've invested in this labor of love. i've stopped buying my coffee beans @ the store and have been working my way through their different roasts. in fact, i need to go there today and see what they have in stock because my bean cupboard is bare.