La Marzocco Opens Its First Café and Showroom in Seattle Today!
The innovative Italian espresso machine manufacturer La Marzocco continues its groundbreaking ways with the opening of its first showroom and café in the Emerald City at the Seattle Center. The La Marzocco café and showroom opens on April 16 at the same time KEXP opens the doors to its brand new home facility which makes sense since it’s located inside KEXP‘s new home building! The café and showroom will showcase not just the newest and greatest equipment and machines from La Marzocco but also some of the best coffees in the world.
The coffees come through the Roasters in Residence program. Led by La Marzocco Experience Manager Amy Hattemer, the program selects some of the world’s leading coffee companies or individuals to participate in one-month residencies at the café, curating the coffee menu and integrating their educational programming within the space to engage the local and coffee community.
The Roasters in Residence program launches with Stumptown Coffee Roasters from Portland, Ore. Stumptown like La Marzocco is a longtime supporters of listener-supported radio station KEXP. And Duane Sorenson, Stumptown’s founder, launched his coffee company’s first café in then sleep Southeast Portland with a La Marzocco Linea espresso machine in 1999. The Stumptown menu will be offered through the end of May.
Other confirmed residencies at the café to include current April + May 2016 Barista Magazine cover duo G&B Coffee of Los Angeles; Buna of Mexico City; Campos Coffee of Sydney, Australia; Counter Culture Coffee of Durham, N.C.; Intelligentsia Coffee of Chicago; Panther Coffee of Miami, Florida; Pilot Coffee Roasters of Toronto; Canada; Cat & Cloud of Santa Cruz, Calif.; Coffee Supreme of Wellington, New Zealand; and Heart Coffee Roasters of Portland, Oregon.
In addition to the fully operating café that is open daily, the La Marzocco space includes a showroom with commercial and home espresso machines, as well as historical archives and vintage machines for guests to explore La Marzocco products, and the company’s rich, nearly 90-year heritage.
œLa Marzocco is thrilled to provide a physical space to showcase the amazing coffee partners we work with and who inspire us every day. This is a café experience unlike anything else that exists “ we are essentially allowing our coffee partners to come in and launch a new café in our space each month,” explains Whitney Cornell, La Marzocco’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We’re an Italian company, but we have deep roots in Seattle, so we are also proud to be able to bring some of the best coffee minds to Seattle. The opportunity to co-locate with KEXP was a natural fit. We share a passion for artistry and discovery, and we’re both cultural icons with Seattle roots and global reach.
The architecture and design of the 1,100 square foot café and showroom including the custom bar was designed by SkB Architects, who traveled to the La Marzocco factory in Florence, Italy, in preparation for the project. Inspiration for the design came from La Marzocco’s Florence factory, and the drawings of Italian coffee bars that La Marzocco designed and produced from the 1960s-1980s. Kyle Gaffney of SkB Architects was inspired to sketch the 200 square foot bar after sitting down with Piero Bambi, son and nephew of La Marzocco’s founding brothers, to discuss the importance of thoughtful bar design. The pewter bar top nose takes design cues from the La Marzocco FB80 model espresso machine, and Florentine lilies line the bar face.
The showroom, beginning from the entrance on 1st Avenue, is a journey that speaks directly to the history of La Marzocco. It includes a floor-to-ceiling mural of the city of Florence, steel etched floor with the company’s historical moments, and machines designed in chronological history beginning from the 1920s. Within the showroom, guests will find the Espresso Lab devoted to La Marzocco Home, to speak directly with home baristas, that will allow guests to gain hands-on experience with La Marzocco’s range of home espresso machines, teach them how to use them, and more.