People don’t go to Kitt’s Kitchen & Coffee for the food — they go for the vibe.
The only way I can describe the “vibe” is like this. At Kitt’s, everywhere you look could be a scene from either a Hallmark movie, a rom-com or stand-alone film.
In the corner, a diligent student stares intently at a computer screen with a furrowed brow and a coffee-stained cup that has been empty for at least an hour. Young bachelorettes spill their weekly tea, over tea. A couple attempts to study for a midterm (but end up studying each other more). Meanwhile, co-workers run through agendas, church ladies hold bible studies and professors catch up with old friends.
The place echoes with soft folk music, whirring machines and clinking silverware. The building doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it’s filled with stories from various walks of life — young, old, and in-between. Perhaps the older generations go to Kitt’s because they drank coffee before it was trendy. Or maybe it’s because they are reminded of their youth.
For whatever reason, at Kitt’s everyone seems to be the main character.
I’m not usually drawn to coffee shops, especially ones as popular and noisy as this one. I had been to Kitt’s before though, so when I ordered today, I asked for the “coffee that tastes like French toast.” The young Barista giggled and put me down for a Canella con acero latte, hot — a creamy mixture of espresso, cinnamon, maple syrup and milk. I also ordered a Berry Berry Crêpe from the Kitt’s All-Star Favorite menu.
The Canella con acero latte is pretty to look at. The cup fits into hands like a bowl, and its mouth is wide enough for me to see the swirly, heart-shaped artwork on the surface. Tiny bits of cinnamon float around the swooping designs like fairy dust. The cinnamon gives the drink a slight texture, but the concoction still glides smoothly down the throat. The coffee smells like a candle but tastes like cold weather.
The Berry Berry Crêpe, on the other hand, tastes like summer.
Raspberry sauce is drizzled over folded dough, and berries seep out from the edges. In spite of my slowing metabolism, I deemed it okay to have dessert for lunch, and after taking one bite, I knew it was worth the cavities.
At first, the temperature of the fruit tasted wrong because my tastebuds were not used to warm fruit. But then, the familiarity of pie filling took over, and I was in my mom’s kitchen.
Each berry contributes a different personality to the crêpe’s overall flavor. There were the sweet strawberries, the juicy blackberries, the exotic raspberries and the sour blue berries. The berries were like the contrasting members of the Breakfast Club who all banded together in the end.
The dough doesn’t have to be interesting when the berries do all of the heavy lifting for it.
These dishes are among a few others I’ve ordered at Kitt’s in the past, but I was in different movie scenes then. The first scene was from a rom-com, when a guy invited me to a “coffee hang-out,” and I only realized it was a date after the fact. The next scene was from comedy when my sweaty, sleep-deprived self rushed through the doors for the last minutes of a work meeting. Another heartfelt scene was when I took my sisters out for a goodbye breakfast before I returned to college.
In today’s movie scene, I invited lab partner to Kitt’s after class, and our friendship became more than a group project or an assignment.
But that’s what Kitt’s Coffee & Kitchen does for people. It brings characters together and advances the plot.
