RIVER NORTH — Caffè Umbria, a Seattle-based coffee roaster, has chosen River North for its first venture outside the Pacific Northwest.
The mini-chain serving "artisan" coffee drinks and light pastries will open a small cafe next month at 346 N. Clark St., a shuttered Crumbs Bake Shop, Caffè Umbria partner Jesse Sweeney said. He hopes the shop will open around Labor Day.
The new store would be the fourth for Caffè Umbria, which was founded in Seattle in 2002 and has since expanded to Portland, Ore. Sweeney said the company chose Chicago for its latest expansion because it already runs a wholesale office and distribution center here, and delivers its espresso beans to many local restaurants including Caffè Baci, Caffè RoM, and its soon-to-be next-door neighbor: Piccolo Sogno Due.
"We think we tend to do well in kind of dense, urban neighborhoods," Sweeney said.
The cafe takes its name from Umbria, Italy, where one of the partners' grandfather opened a coffee shop nearly 70 years ago, Sweeney said. The menu, while not finalized, will include coffee brewed in a stovetop Moka pot, pourover coffee, and cold brews. Prices will range from $1.75 for an eight-ounce coffee to $8 for a large French press brew.
Once open, the shop will include about a dozen seats and a bar for guests, Sweeney said. The cafe could add a sidewalk patio next year, he said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
