Black Cat Espresso

There’s a tiny strip of a building in Meadowbrook, in the middle of urban nowhere, that holds Santorini Pizza & Pasta, which has been in business forever and is always packed, and two other units that change ownership on a regular basis. I noticed a new espresso shop today, and of course couldn’t resist checking it out. «Are you new here?» I asked as I walked in. «I haven’t seen this place before.»
«We’ve been here about 7 months.»
Oh. So much for my powers of observation. Considering that the place used to be a convenience store and then a pharmacy, they’ve done a good job of «cutesifying» the rectangular space. There’s a small electric fireplace, games, books, art on the walls. They had croissants the size of small loaves of bread, dinner plate sized chocolate dipped cookies, and a large tray of doughnuts, but it was the soy latte that blew me away. Rich and smooth, with lots of light and lovely foam. I forgot to check the espresso brand, but a sign on the front door touts their coffee as organic, shade grown and fair trade. The hat trick of espresso. Works for me. I probably won’t ever hang out here, and at 10 am on a Saturday morning no one else was either, but I’ll certainly drop by again for a latte to go. They’re friendly, fast, and have plenty of parking. I hope this location is sustainable, but I have my doubts. Since they’re next door to two schools, I’m hoping they’ll manage to stay in business by catering to the caffeinated teenage crowd, because god knows they’re not hyper enough as it is.