West Marin’s easygoing entrepreneur wants you to find that sweet spot between work and home, all while enjoying a carefully brewed cup of coffee.
Inverness’s Miguel Kuntz, who founded the weekly themed film series at Ink Paper Plate and previously worked with Wild West Ferments, recently established the CC Café: a pop-up coffee, pastry and good-vibe hub that floats between Bolinas, Point Reyes Station and soon Inverness.
“I wanted a space where people can be creative and hang out,” he said. “Also, living in Point Reyes with no café? C’mon! There was no third space between work and home to hang out in.”
His goal was roundly achieved last Tuesday morning at the Bolinas Commons, where several local thirty-somethings bumped into one another while others typed away on their laptops to the sound of a languorous playlist. (That list included a song from Julia Holter, a singer-songwriter for whom Mr. Kuntz used to play drums when living in Los Angeles, his hometown.)
He sources his coffee beans from the fairly-traded Proyecto Diaz Coffee, which uses a farm in Oaxaca, Mexico and his options are either dark or light.
Each cup comes with a meticulous balance of ground coffee and water, and he offers the option of a “magic dust” comprised of ground rose and cardamom, all for $3 a cup.
One customer, after taking his first sip on Tuesday, told Mr. Kuntz, “It’s especially good today. Is there love in there?” Another hollered as she left with a cup, “Thank you for holding it down—this is the best coffee in town!”
A Japanophile, Mr. Kuntz derived inspiration for his new endeavor from the small cafés and bars he has frequented in the country’s nooks that he described as “the expression of that one person’s creativity and passion.”
He’s obtained a health permit from the county—he’s technically a caterer—and the Dance Palace serves as his commissary, where he washes dishes and prepares food. His girlfriend Samantha Kimmey makes the majority of the baked goods, such as fennel and gruyere galettes and kimchi cheese knish.
CC Café has a Monday morning slot at Ink Paper Plate that has become a hotspot daycare for mothers and children. The mugs he uses are from Silt Clay, crafted by Inverness potter Noelle Hiam, and the duo will collaborate for a pop-up at Sea to See in Olema on April 21.
While he’s keeping the namesake of his café close to his chest, Mr. Kuntz jokingly alluded to one his Bolinas customers for its origin. “CC or Charlie Callahan,” he said with a wry smile.
CC Café is open from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Ink Paper Plate on Mondays, and during the same hours at the Bolinas Commons on Tuesdays and, beginning next month, at Center, a new studio space in Inverness, on Sundays.