The Kern Stree Coffee House closed this summer; the owner John Baker being tired of losing money. It was sad and made the papers. Then last week (mid-September 2007) I noticed the place was open again. Huh.

I was bored today and wandered over there for a late lunch: This older Chinese couple bought some of the old fixtures from John, painted the interior bright orange, added a real counter and refrigerated display case, and they're selling espresso drinks, smoothies and submarines sanwiches.

They have some new tables inside and the old ones outside. The name's the same. The place was virtually empty and I have no expectation it will survive.

I had the club sandwich on toasted French roll (special request) and it was tasty, and well priced too with chips and a drink for under $7.

I later ordered a "macchiato" but, even after carefully explaining the drink to the not-too-fluent-in-English owneress, and even after her assurances of knowing what it was, she made me this milk-heavy abomination drizzled with caramel syrup. It almost made me gag, but I forced it down my gullet for the caffeine.

I may return for the food, and order a simple espresso next time.

DISCLAIMER: this may be long.

i dated johns son for 2 years when he lived in fresno. thats how our worlds collided. and collided they did. he offered me a job that would literally change my life. literally.
i worked for john for 3 years after his partner left. he needed a manager and knew i had tons of experience. the answer to his offer was a no-brainer. hell yes.
what i brought the first day of work was passion (my new favorite word). i had high hopes and lofty aspirations. on johns dime, of course. he placed his cafe, his money and his reputation in my hands. he truly believed in me as much as he believed in the dream.
i was home.
within 3 months he decided to expand, open the adjacent room as a dining area. if you build it, they will come. we worked hard to throw a "grand re-opening", sent out invitations to our loyal customers, enlisted 3 bands, closed down kern street and partied our little hard workin' butt's off. this was the beginning of a turn in my life where i said good-bye to the little girl and hello to the woman i would become.
this may seem so dramatic to you all. its just a job. but for me it was and is so much more. kern street taught me to be a business woman; seeing a vision and following through. it taught me to be a friend; writing down the names of every single person who walked in on a notepad underneath the counter til i remembered every face and drink. it taught me to follow my dreams; watching johns blood, sweat and tears, literally, bring him to the success that he is today, sans base boards(inside joke). and john baker taught me to appreciate a great cup of coffee. creating the perfect cappuccino is only acheived by someone who loves coffee. every nuance, flavor and blending of crema and froth comes from the desire to please the most discernable palate.
kern street afforded me an in to the downtown community that before 1997, i would have never known. i met local politicians, attorneys, law enforment officers of every level and artists. all of whom, 10 years later, i still call my friends.
but more than this, john gave me an education i will never ever lose. this man taught me to temper business with pleasure. he blindy trusted me when i was at my worst. the first 5 months of me working there i gave him so much grief but he believed in me and stuck with me. "joey, dont sweat the petty things, pet the sweaty things" he often said. his love of music rubbed off on me and my knowledge of many different genres of music i owe to him.
i remember a time when he planned a "field trip" to learn more about coffee. the staff all piled in a jeep because we missed our train and drove 3 hours to berkeley to learn the key to cusomer service and making a great cup of coffee......and were fortunate enough to find the local record store too. because a trip with john without visiting a record store, just isnt a trip worth taking. but what stood out about that road trip was that we all willingly piled, 6 deep, into that jeep, elbow to elbow, knees on top of knees just to learn more about how we could more efficiently satisfy our customers and how we could brew the perfect cup of coffee and we genuinly liked each other so much that the drive was more fun than the visit itself because we were family. but it was all part of johns vision. he wanted so much to satisfy fresno. he wanted so much to be a step above the rest. and he was.
his customers became his friends. his family was his staff. we loved, fought and worked with every ounce of our being and he single-handedly created the notion that downtown was a viable and thriving mecca, if you just believe. he set the wheels in motion for what would become the beginning of the revitalization of downtown fresno. really, it was him.
to see him today brought back so many memories and we talked and laughed at our many experiences in the cafe and out. my only regret is that i didnt get the opportunity to make one last cappuccino. we talked many times after i left about me coming in and making a cameo appearance as a "guest barista", a reoccuring dream i had every couple of months. i really loved being at kern st.
whether we were dressed up for halloween being covered by the local TV morning show or arguing about the amount of time to blend the whipped cream, we did it together. for that short 3 years, john made kern street mine. he trusted me and believed.
i am sad it is gone. today is the final hoorah. what makes me even more sad is that for every employee who came and left, he made a big to-do. he sent us out in style; parties, hooplah and never letting us leave without making sure we knew what we meant to kern street.
today there is no sign for john. there is no after party at toledos or el cochinito or tokyo gardens. i didnt get the chance to make him a sign like he did for us. i didnt get to say im proud of you. i didnt get to make him one last cappuccino. if i could i would, with a heart in the middle; just like he taugt me.
im so proud to have been a part of kern street coffee company and still have my apron to show for it. i am so proud to be a part of johns vision and proud to say he's my friend.
best wishes john baker, im better for knowing you.

~JOEY GIRL

So, Kern St. Coffee is done.

I was there this morning.

And so were lots of others, the regulars, sitting and standing outside, much like a regular Friday morning. Only, when it came time to leave, it was that sort of sad goodbye we all hate.

This is sad. I've biked down to Kern every Saturday (almost) for the better part of a year. Kern St. is the place I first met Reza Assemi. It's the first place that gave me a real feeling of what downtown could be.

I did a story on John and the shop in 2003, when I worked for the Neighbors CityView. A lot of what he said then still rings true (maybe more so) today.

John Baker sits at the window of Kern Street Coffee Company, looking out on Downtown Fresno, patiently searching for words to describe the Italian-style coffee and espresso shop next to the historic Downtown Club.

"Being downtown, it was definitely geared toward the work week environment," says Baker, who started the business with a friend in 1996.

Back then it was just a hole-in-the-wall on Kern Street, a walk-in, stand-up espresso bar for people working in the area, Baker says.

And though the shop still gets busy around 6:30 in the morning with downtowners getting their morning cups, Baker is striving for something more.

"The shop takes on, to a certain degree, my personality," says Baker, who bought the business outright in 1999. He's expanded the shop to include tables and chairs, even a couch. He started showing the work of local artists and became a stop on Fresno's Art Hop.

Now, there is always art on the walls. A dingy white piano sits in the back, and jazz music fills the room.

"You're going to be subjected to good, straight-ahead jazz, most the time -- and mostly in LP form," Baker says. This afternoon it's The Best of Horace Silver, playing on an old record player that was donated by a customer.

Most mornings it's KFSR radio.

The idea is to create a bustling downtown hub in traditional Italian cafe style, Baker says, to establish themselves in the community as both a coffee house and a meeting place.

"We've tried a lot of things... and most have failed miserably," Baker says.

What stayed was Thursday nights.

The shop stays open for Art Hop on the first Thursday of every month. On other Thursdays they have open mic nights and poetry readings.

They are also open on Saturdays, to better serve their regulars, most of whom Baker knows on a first-name basis.

"It's really provided an opportunity for our regular customers to come down and, in a more casual environment, enjoy their coffee shop," he says.

For many artists, Kern Street is already a hub.

"There's quite a colony of artists who have studios in downtown and they sort of wander in and out," says Bill Bruce, a local artist and jazz disc jockey at KFSR who has a studio on Van Ness Avenue.

Bruce, along with fellow artist Robert Ogata, comes down to Kern Street every few days to drink coffee, but more importantly to take a break from their studio work.

The conversation ain't bad either.

"Richard and John and I get into some meaty jazz discussions when we are there," Bruce says.

And though Fresno's downtown area has not seen quite the growth Baker would have expected in his seven years, he is happy with the progress that is being made with Grizzly Stadium and the construction of the new courthouse and office buildings.

"I still hold out hope that Fresno will recognize the need to have a thriving downtown," he says.

But that means having people live there, he says, pointing to San Francisco, with thriving urban area that exists because of various smaller neighborhoods, each with their own laundry, grocer and coffee shop.

The dream is to be that neighborhood coffee shop, Baker says.

But he reminds himself of the real reason for Kern Street -- the coffee.

Baker remembers his first "great coffee" experience at the original Peet's Coffee & Tea at Walnut Square in Berkeley, 1970. It was a life-changing experience. Recently he traveled to Italy and experienced espresso culture firsthand.

And that passion is part of what makes Kern Street Coffee Company.

"If anyone is serious about having a great cappuccino, they will find us," he says.

that stinks. when i was downtown and wanted coffee, this is where i went. that was rather infrequent for me, but still. i know others who loved this place regularly.

I'll be there shortly after 7 a.m., drinking my double Americano and eating a bagel.