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Business & Tech

Restaurant Review: The Golden Bean

Rohnert Park's hidden treasure, where Sonoma County locals make a special stop for Blue Bottle Coffee.

I first discovered a couple of years ago. As I made my way to the counter at the other end of the shop, I noticed the golden yellow walls adorned with paintings and photographs by area artists. Latin music softly played in the background. I reached the register, and Leosara Vlahos, the owner, blasted me with radiant energy and many words that I could not understand.

Her Nicaraguan accent was thick and her speech was rapid. Clearly this woman was drinking the product. After a quick conversation, mostly lost in translation, I got my coffee order in.

But, she kept talking. I did a lot of smiling and nodding. Finally, I got my double Americano, with a touch of half-and-half.

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Wow.

This coffee was really freaking good. I mean really. At the time I was employed at a drive-thru coffee shop in Santa Rosa called Caffino. This stuff blew that coffee shop’s beans out of the water. The Americano had a rich, thick crema, even with the hot water diluting it to fill my 16-ounce cup. It tasted how espresso is really meant to taste. It was not the burnt, high acid, thin and watery crap that certain chains that-shall-not-be-named serve that require you to add excessive amounts of sugar or cream in order to get caffeinated without making a face.

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This had a soft chocolate flavor with a smooth creamy finish. This coffee was meant to be slowly sipped, enjoyed, loved — not pounded down to prepare for (or recover from) an all-nighter. I had to know more about this coffee. When my head felt like it was going to nod off my shoulders in agreement with whatever the hell this woman was talking about, I finally asked her, “What kind of espresso is this?”

Her answer (translated): Blue Bottle Coffee.

She only uses the Hayes Valley Blend, roasted in the back alley of a posh San Francisco neighborhood. It was a combination of organic beans from Uganda, Guatemala, Brazil, Ethiopia and Mexico.

I later found out that Blue Bottle has a huge cult following, where it began at small artisan farmers markets. I also learn that The Golden Bean is the only known coffee shop in Sonoma County to offer Blue Bottle Coffee.

Vlahos and her husband Peter had only moved to California a few years earlier. They’d tasted this coffee in San Francisco, and (long story short) opened The Golden Bean in Rohnert Park.

I frequented her shop whenever I was in the area — sometimes just for coffee — sometimes for a hot breakfast sandwich or freshly baked cookie.

One winter day, feeling disconcerted about my job at the time, I wandered in, to work up my resume and check out job listings online (the Golden Bean provides free Wi-Fi). Vlahos sat nearby and asked what I was working on. I told her, showed her my rough draft resume, and joked that maybe I could work for her.

Within 20 minutes, we had set a time for a formal interview that week. The interview went well and I was hired. A year later, and I’m still at The Golden Bean, working with Vlahos, serving Rohnert Park locals and tourists.

This place is really great. Not only do we have the best espresso in town, but Vlahos is always entertaining regulars with her firecracker personality. Conversations are peppered with political and economic discourse, funny stories and laughter. 

It is definitely worth stopping in, even if you don’t drink coffee. We also serve up hot tea, chai lattes, hot chocolate (we make our chocolate sauce in house) and orange juice.

If you’re hungry, we offer fresh pastries from Artisan Bakery, fresh baked cookies by Kashaya, bagels with cream cheese or a hot breakfast sandwich that comes on a croissant with two fresh scrambled eggs, cheese and ham.  

Don’t worry, if you need us to make your coffee how you like it at the chains, we won’t judge you. Just don’t ask us for a coffee milkshake.

The Golden Bean Coffee House is located at 101 Golf Course Dr., Rohnert Park, in the Doubletree Plaza.

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