Around Town

Wake up, Downtown, Rêve is open!

by Christiaan Mader

Wake up early to sample the sumptuous breakfast offerings, but don't be disappointed if you settle for cold oatmeal.

A bowl of cold oatmeal doesn’t seem like a warm welcome, but you’d be surprised just how comforting it is when the oats are steel cut and the blueberries are tart and plump. That’s elevation of a peasant staple, and it's a morning delight when the infant fall sun hits fading white walls. I came to Rêve Coffee Roasters’ soft open for their new Downtown location for the Tornado, some sort of breakfast concoction featuring Johnson’s Boucanière sausage and orange syrup drizzle. Because I wake up late like a bozo, I missed the breakfast storm that must have rolled through Rêve this morning and claimed all the hot breakfast items. Point is, if you want something hot to eat at Rêve, wake up before 9:30.

There’s no such thing as soft open for a hotly anticipated property. Rêve barista, prep-cook and do-ragged ambassador Mark Whitney says they were on the brink of insanity with the early morning crowd that swallowed their breakfast menu whole within two hours of their 7 a.m. opening.

“You always want to busier, but we were about as busy as we could handle,” says Whitney.

Owner Nathanael Johnson had to grapple with a finicky espresso machine like a pit crew chief for a stock car race of Maseratis. With the hood up and the gears exposed, he tinkers with the contraption while he deftly pours shots of espresso to keep the wave of eager guinea pigs suitably caffeinated. The grand opening is still a month or so out, and there remain a few cosmetic t’s to cross and eyes to dazzle. But in the meantime, the nitro-iced coffee is flowing and the oatmeal is cold and refreshing.

Rêve Coffee Roasters is located at 200A Jefferson Street. It's open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.