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Saturday, March 7, 2015

COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / GOOD PEOPLE, GOOD COFFEE & THE AMERICAN DREAM



Sunny Side Kitchen Cafe owners Kate and Bob Carpenter with customer/handyman Kyle at the recent grand opening of their Escondido establishment.
GOOD MORNING, ESCONDIDO--Kate and Bob Carpenter’s Sunny Side Kitchen had its grand opening this week in downtown Escondido.  For you tourists reading this blog, Escondido is about 35 miles north of San Diego.
           
The new operation is the couple’s first effort in a storefront after having run a successful gourmet truck version of Sunnyside Kitchen for several years.  Sunny Side mobile has been a regular stop for local street fairs and many of the booming North County San Diego craft breweries.  The mobile side of the business will continue.

Sunny Side Kitchen—the new storefront--is a breakfast operation.  It’s open Monday thru Friday from 6:30 am to 2:30 pm.  On Fridays they stay open until 8 pm.  Closed weekends.

You’ll find Bob and Kate in the kitchen of their truck and new café doing all the cooking based on family recipes.  Their forte is American comfort food.  Quality ingredients and a friendly atmosphere will make this morning glory popular with the locals in no time.
           
First timers are raving about the “Works,” a breakfast sandwich, which includes egg, cheese, avocado and bacon.  The gluten free cinnamon rolls cookies and muffins are first rate.
           
And, at the core of any successful breakfast operation is a keen understanding of serving the best coffee possible is a must.

When asked about the coffee they serve Kate’s reply: “we serve craft coffee.”

OK, what’s craft coffee?

She asked if we were familiar with the term craft beer? 

Of course.

Craft coffee is a fairly new phenomenon, she said, much like the microbreweries that are popping up seemingly everywhere in San Diego, serious coffee drinkers are becoming more interested in the back-story of how their cup of coffee came to be and how it is made.

Sunny Side Kitchen uses local roaster Origen (www.origencoffeeroasters.com) to ensure that the beans are fresh (never more than seven days since they were roasted) and treated with exactly the right procedures to ensure the sweetness of the perfect cup of coffee without burning the natural sugars in the beans.

Origen’s Ruben Enriquez is in a constant quest for sourcing the best coffees available directly from the origin. As a certified artisan roaster he brings to the forefront complex flavors and aromas of each varietal during the roasting process.

Kate points out, “as the brewers it is our job to consistently bring out the subtle flavors with an extreme attention to detail. Our grinder was selected after exhaustive testing to make sure that the beans are perfectly ground for our use.

Sunny Side Kitchen uses a Hario pour-over system to ensure clarity. “Our water is precisely between 195 and 202 degrees while pouring to make sure we get the most extraction possible (most coffee makers tap out around 180 degrees).

“The brew procedure and timing is also precisely monitored to ensure that our customers get a culinary experience in their cup. Different beans reveal tastes such as chocolate, caramel, lemongrass, nuts, and more.”

Kate continues” “One of our favorite beans is an Ethiopian bean from Misty Valley. The beans are dried the old fashioned way by laying them out in the sun on drying beds or patios with the beans still inside the cherry, a process that is now called Natural. What you get is a dense, heavy body with exotic wild berry flavors and low acidity.

“The aroma of our Ethiopian beans is floral with a little bit of dark berry. There’s a really mellow Honeydew acidity with a quick black tea-like finish. As the coffee cools the honeydew taste evolves into more of a tangerine experience. Some taste chocolate. It’s both complex and delicate,” said Kate.

It’s obvious Escondido is getting more than a new café.  It’s also going to get a whole new cup of coffee.

Sunny Side Kitchen
155 S. Orange
Historic Downtown Escondido
760-470-2468



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