How about going out for a specialty coffee made with 15 different brewing methods, and also to try one of 25 craft beer labels, you can have a Daman Frère tea or choose among 47 Gran Cru wine labels? Or even have a heavenly pasta dish?
Impossible? No, it is possible at Kofi & Co.
Marcello Cunha and Maurício Aurichi, owners and partners, established their business in this way (the respective wives are also partners). Both former multinational executives, with experience in management, operation and finance departments, they were eager to start their business for a while.
While searching for a product, they came across the craft beers and, soon afterwards, with the specialty coffees. Marcello went on to take an MBA course in the US and was fascinated by Starbucks as a business. On his way back to Brazil, he went to see several coffee shops, such as Sofá Café, Santo Grão, Octávio Café. He attended barista, roastmaster and other courses at the Isabela Raposeiras’ Coffee Lab.
(Marcello Cunha, one of Kofi & Co.’s partners)
They discovered the Third Wave trend of specialty coffees, the work of the Brazilian roastmaster Hugo Wollf, and the La Marzocco coffee machines. They chose a GB5 model and received all the consultancy of the brand representative. Paul Germscheid. For the kitchen, they hired two chefs, one as a consultant, Fábio Andrade, former Hyatt and another, Leo Neves, to work with them daily.
And they thought of a business model that would suit all tastes: food, wine, beer, cachaça, tea and coffee always regarding the highest quality standards. Besides chocolates. “The only secret is knowing how to manage all this complexity”, confesses Marcello.
They continued to study more thoroughly the products that they would offer at their establishment: Marcello went to take a sommelier course at Tea kettle on tea, and took other courses related to Wine, Beer with Caroline Yoda, and so on. They have bought the best literature available on the subjects (which, moreover, are available to customers who wish to browse the books while they remain on site).
(The wine and beer racks from Kofi & Co. and Marcello showing us the different teas from the house)
In the Family home
After this planning phase, they began to look for a place to house the Kofi & Co. They searched in Vila Madalena, Pinheiros, Jardins, Faria Lima. But since they did not find any place that would please them, Marcelo decided to use his family home, located at Avenida Alexandre Dumas. “I lived here until I was in my twenties and my parents occupied the property until last year. As we knew the neighborhood really well and were acquainted with its potential and demands, we decided that we would establish our coffee shop here. We are developing our audience, with the locals and the people working at the offices”, explains Marcello.
(The space of Kofi & Co: Marcello’s old childhood home that has been restructured to become a cutting-edge cafeteria!)
They started a gigantic renovation in the house, removing walls, doing structural reinforcement, etc. “Every inch of our place was calculated by us”, he says. The family architect sought inspiration from coffee shops in New York, California, Norway, and even Australia. The house looked industrial, stripped-down and very comfortable.
Even the china was handpicked. Who developed it was the company Café e Arte, suppliers for some of the 5-star hotels in the city. “Every single china is special. Our famous Tiramisu is made with the Hugo Wolf’s specialty coffee, our mascarpone cheese is imported from Italy and our 80% organic cacao brew is served in a cup of coffee.
The excellent Tiramissu from Kofi & Co, served in the cup of coffee!)
At the moment, they are renewing the menu and want to stay open one more day a week, on Sundays. For such they are restructuring the team.
Kofi & Co has 120 square meters, with 53 seats. In addition to offering the coffees of the Brazilian Hugo Wolff, composed by grains from different regions of Brazil, such as Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Paraná and Bahia, they import some coffee directly from the famous Norwegian roaster Tim Wendelboe. “I brought it because the customers were asking for a different grain, from other countries, something very difficult to find around here. And he’s a great reference out there”, he says.
It is up to the client to choose whether to try the coffee on our coffee shop or to take home the beans roasted by Wendelboe from Kenya, Mexico and Honduras.
(The different types of international grain from Tim Wendelboe that are sold at Kofi & Co.)
Promising Future
With all this professionalism, they admit that in 2018 we will have many new features. And also, a new home. “We’re still choosing the place. Our headquarters will always be here but we are working to become a great network of coffee shops”, he confided.
Preparation methods
Another peculiarity of the place is the variety of specialty coffee preparation methods. In total, there are 15 methods, in addition to the espresso. “The customer can notice the difference that the method gives to the grain and in the cup. We offer different methods for our customers to define their preferences. The important thing is for them to know. Here we have a place of experimentation and we are offering what we can to our clients”, he concludes.
Available coffee extraction methods: espresso, filtered ( Hario, kalita, Chemex and Clever), Eva Solo, Italian and French coffee machines, siphon /globinho, aeropress, Turkish/Arabic, cold brew
(everything at Kofi & Co. was planned: from the international cafes to the table cloth!)
Kofi & Co.
Address: Rua Alexandre Dumas, 1518
Santo Amaro, São Paulo – SP
Phone: +55 (11) 36244838
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
From October and on it will open on Sundays
