Italian-style cafe serves caffeine, ice cream

LOUISVILLE ? Between Starbucks and local coffee vendors like Vic?s, Joe?s and Peaberry, most mornings smell like fresh-brewed coffee.

With Louisville-based Amante Coffee joining the mix, the aroma is getting thicker.
Six-year-old coffee wholesaler Amante just opened its first sit-down coffeehouse ? an Italian-style cafe at 4580 Broadway in North Boulder.

?People want a third place,? says Greg Buchheister, a partner with Amante Coffee. ?They have work and home, but they want a place to meet their friends, family and business associates to take a break from reality.?

But the big question is, can Amante compete with all the others out there?

?Starbucks has done a great job bringing awareness to the market, and Boulder has many good coffeehouses,? Buchheister says. ?But we feel that we have a different concept with the Italian coffee, wine, ambiance and culture. Amante is a blend of what you would find in a café in Italy with the forward thinking of Seattle. We are going to help put Boulder on the map for great coffee.?

Yes, Amante serves wine. It also serves beer. A little espresso in the morning and a little alcohol for the afternoon.

However, Buchheister says alcohol will not be a centerpiece for the shop, which aims to cater to businesses and families.

Amante, which means lover or mistress, has been distributing wholesale coffee to independent restaurants, coffee shops, specialty food retailers and grocery stores since 1999.

Then Buchheister wanted to take the Amante brand ?to the next level,? he says.

?We felt that even with all of the great places in Boulder, there was still a void for a full-scale Italian coffee bar. We always wanted to start do our own coffee shop with an Italian feel, and we felt very strongly about two locations in Boulder, so we decided to go for it.?

In May, Amante will open a cafe on Walnut Street in Boulder.

Buchheister says the North Boulder ?community ? has been starved for local businesses. There are so many new households there and very few places to go that are within two to three square miles. Plus, the area has over 35,000 feet of retail space and over 200 lofts and apartments for sale or rent, so we have our own community built around the store.?

The shop on Broadway opened for business in mid-March.

Amante began designing the store last August with McGinty, an architectural design firm, and construction began in January.

Jamie Temple, the founder of Boulder-based Case Logic Inc. who sold his interest in Case Logic in 1991, joined Amante in the summer of 2003 as an investor and director of corporate development. Buchheister said Temple and investor Lee Weldon, former owner of Nature?s Apothecary, a manufacturer of natural herbal products in Louisville, are key in advancing Amante into the restaurant market.

The 1,778-square-foot store offers a menu of more than 10 espresso drinks very typical of Italy ? all for $1. It also sells some of the standard fare of cappuccinos, lattes and other espresso-based drinks. Four drinks are made with the Italian ice cream known as gelato, and eight drinks are made with alcohol.

For the less adventurous, Amante serves Italian roast and French press coffee.
All Amante coffees are available for sale for home use, and it will grind to order. It also sells espresso machines from Italy.

Hungry patrons can dine on Italian croissants available plain or stuffed with prosciutto and cheese, Nutella or chocolate/raspberry filling, or they can munch on muffins, rolls or baguettes. Amante?s panini sandwiches are made at the store. In the evenings it sells cheese platters and snacks to pair with the wines and beers.

Buchheister wouldn?t disclose startup costs but did say they were ?enough to make it look great but not over the top.? Nor would he reveal projected revenues, saying only, ?we hope enough to pay the bills.? Michael Wilkens, a 22-year veteran of the coffee industry and the national key accounts manager for Espresso Specialists, an espresso machine company in Boulder, says people have been asking if there?s enough room in Boulder for another coffee shop for 20 years. ?The answer is ?Yes,? if the people opening it know what they?re doing,? Wilkens says.

Wilkins says coffee shops are like restaurants, and the statistics for them aren?t good. ?About 90 percent close in the first year of business,? he says. ?But you have those who get the right constellation of vision, creativity, planning and people with a desire to succeed, and they can make it.?

Wilkins says he believes Amante falls in the latter category. ?I think Greg has the right items in place to do well.?

Amante will open two more stores in the next eight months, one in Steamboat Springs and one in the Erie/Lafayette area. Plus, the company plans to open 10 more Amante shops over the next three years in Aspen, Vail and Denver and beyond Colorado.

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