UPDATE: Chinatown Coffee Co. set to open Monday July 27th! After emailing with Max Brown (he and his wife will manage the store with Nick’s help) and stopping by in my car today (Sunday, July 26th), I came up with the news. Friendly competition among Chinatown Coffee Co. (CCC) and Peregrine Espresso will ensue.
I talked to David Flynn of Peregrine on Saturday to hear what he knows about specialty coffee out here on the East Coast and he’s as excited about CCC as the rest of us.
My only worry is the location. It seems a bit out of the way for most people and if I am correct (which I may not be), there was a Juan Valdez on E Street not too far from the CCC location that couldn’t hack it.
Chinatown Coffee Co. (CCC)
The back story: For those of you who didn’t know the coffee experience of Murky Coffee (formerly located in Clarendon and in DC), owner Nick Cho had a great thing going. But, like so many amazing people who are head-over-heels passionate about people and coffee, they don’t fully appreciate the importance of cash flow management in this business (won’t mention any names but even the true pioneers of this entire industry are guilty of this). That said, those who are knowledgeable, passionate and determined often survive. This is the story behind Chinatown Coffee Co. set to open this week in the Penn Quarter of Washington, D.C.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickcho/sets/72157608469379875/
Above is a link to some photos that track the development of the place. If all of the buzz of local residents, the Washington Post and Yelp have anything to say, the coffee looks to be as amazing as ever. The ambiance appears to slightly mimic a combination of Blue Bottle (off of Mint in San Francisco) and the Espressamente Illy located at the Palazzo in Las Vegas.
I’m looking forward to checking it out by the end of this week and hopefully get to at least chat a bit with Nick Cho before I write up a review.
I’ve never explored the specialty coffee scene in DC and now have a great excuse to do so.
Stay tuned!
– Maher Hound
Cafe Hound 
We are looking forward to opening our store in the next couple of days. My wife Katharine and I are excited about bringing Chinatown Coffee Co. to our neighborhood and having someone like Nick to help run the shop for us, bringing his expertise to the operation and helping us learn more about the coffee business, about which we are so passionate
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