In Seattle, the venerable roaster shoulders that the cityโs many cafes stand on mostly have names that start with a “V”. Follow the breadcrumb trail through the streets of Capitol Hill and youโll find Vita and Victrola, but today weโre stopping at Espresso Vivace, the more than 25-year-old coffee company owned by David Schomer, once described as โan odd prophet for the coffee set.โ Schomer sat down with Sprudge to talk about how Vivace has become a stalwart, whatโs planned for his forthcoming roastery and espresso training center, and the move that almost shut his doors.
David Schomer is at his best when in his comfort zone, which happens to be about a mile wide. “I am not happy in meetings, on the phone, and stressed out with expansion,โ he says. โOf course, Iโm very unhappy if thereโs any bad espresso coming out of the machines. Itโs been a series of revelations about how great the espresso can be that keeps pulling me forward.โ Schomer admits heย has โa very narrow rangeโ and says, โwhen Iโm in that range, Iโm the happiest person you ever met. Itโs my own weakness that is my strength.โ
Which is why the cafe founderย lives within easy walking distance to his three locations. Serving espresso unabashedly in the Italian style, the Vivace coffee cartย opened for business in 1988. Each day, he makes the rounds to the iconic cart on Broadway, then further down the same street to his cafe on the ground floor of an apartment building, and to a third cafe in nearby South Lake Union. Vivaceโs original, beloved brick-and-mortar, just off Broadway, closed in 2008 to make way for light rail.
A classically trained musician, Schomer says he launched Vivace because he wasnโt making a living as a flutist. “I opened the cart and I fell in love with the espresso process,โ he says. “When I got in I was so excited, because I entered a field that outside of parts of Italy no one was really doing. I was very excited to write the first standard practice and see it go around the world.”
Schomer has high expectations for his staff, which is a common value found in most business owners. But he also has high expectations for his customers, and itโs a key to his staying power. โIt hasย got to be appreciated on the other side of the counter. Because if itโs not, it all just falls apart in your hands,โ he says.
โWeโre in the customer pleasure business,” Schomer continues. ย “What weโre interested in is when someone comes into the door that they have a relaxing and lovely experience, because if theyโre relaxed, theyโre ready to taste,โ Schomer says. โMy places are designed as sanctuaries, first and foremost away from urban excitement and hassles. The service style that keeps them coming back we call compassionate listening. We listen and we look carefully at them to get little clues, how theyโre doing, what would make this individual encounter go better.โ
To describe the zeal of Vivace loyalists, Schomer recounts a “ski lift anecdoteโ he was told in 1991: “There were two people hanging in a ski lift in Switzerland. And they got in an argument about what was the best coffee in Seattle. And the one guy says, ‘Itโs a cart.’ And the other one says, โNo, no, no, itโs the little red place on Broadway.’ And they looked at each other and said, โItโs the same place! Itโs Vivace!’โ
Schomer says the low point for Vivace was when he operated a downtown cart on 5th and Union from 1988โ1992. “The company was slipping through my fingers, I nearly lost the company,โ he says. Tourists came once and didnโt return, and people working downtown were moving at a different pace. โIt was a terrible series of events all based on the other side of the counter when thereโs no appreciation,โ Schomer says.
Schomerโs advice to aspiring or new members of the coffee industry centers around setting a high standard for work. โAs an artist, [I am]ย in charge of the coffee. So Iโm always pleasing myself,โ he says. โThere isnโt any committee to decide what tastes good.โ But crediting his partner and ex-wife Geneva Sullivan for the accounting and payroll and taxes, he stresses the importance of having someone on staff who is mindful of not just making the best coffee but who orders napkins and stir sticks.
โI tell people if youโre going to do this and you have an artistic temperament, you must have someone who can mind the nuts and bolts and together you can do great things,โ Schomer says. โSo utter dedication and fidelity to the artโcoupled with a really sound business partner.โ
If the schedule keeps, a new 5,000-square-foot Vivace roastery and training center will open in January. Instead of finding a cheaper mortgage in a different neighborhood, heโs leasing a space. He signed on the more expensive dotted line in order to preserve his walking route. With the new roastery, Vivace will support a staff of 50, possibly bringing on new instructors. Schomer expects students to sojourn from China and South Korea for trainings, where his book โis huge.โ
Heโs also not in any hurry to open additional cafes and says, โI must admit Iโm a little disappointed in my competitors. I havenโt met one that didnโt open and start expanding and expanding.โ He cites Victrola and Analog (the latter ofย which uses beans from Herkimer) as promising examples of Seattle coffee getting it right and taking it slow. Instead of expansion, Vivaceโs team is obsessed with the โinfinite complexityโ of coffee, from green beans and roasting to grinding and extraction, a technique Schomer says, โis literally almost a lifetime of study at this point.โ
Sara Billups (@hellobillups)ย is a Sprudge staff writer based in Seattle.ย Read more Sara Billups on Sprudge.
