Catching the eyes of shoppers strolling by way of the doorways of Cafe Kiki Manga are the partitions and counters lined in panels from common manga, akin to Sailor Moon, Gatchaman, One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, One Punch Man, Death Note and extra.
Located contained in the J&G Commercial Complex, the cafe’s theme comes from proprietor and chef Arthur Delisle II and his son’s shared love for manga and anime.
Delisle stated each cafe has “a very serious feel to it,” so he and Christopher Lawlor, the cafe’s grasp barista, wished to have a distinct look, mirroring the varied anime cafes discovered throughout Japan.
“It’s a bit snooty. Everyone thinks coffee and the place you have to set up is high-end. We wanted a place that’s more casual and fun,” Lawlor stated.
As the grasp barista, Lawlor’s objective on the beverage facet of the enterprise is to reintroduce folks to good espresso with out added flavoring. He stated a whole lot of the espresso institutions have moved in direction of a medium mix, one thing he’s personally not a fan of.
Delisle stated they are going to nonetheless serve some flavored coffees, akin to mocha and white chocolate. But, as a enterprise, they wish to push the espresso bean itself and the style of it.
“We don’t use any kind of Brazilian bean or any bean that’s sold in mass, so you get a better quality, and we don’t really offer a lot of flavoring, only because we want you to enjoy a real coffee … We do a dark roast, strictly dark roast. It’s got the meat of the real coffees,” Lawlor stated.
For meals, Delisle modeled the menu objects after Japanese consolation meals, principally based mostly off of Japanese milk bread. Items embrace Japanese-style egg salad sandwiches, Japanese-style tuna salad, musubi burritos, acai bowls and “Kiki Waffle Dogs.”
All objects on the food and drinks menus are priced between $5 and $15.
The cafe is open Tuesday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Delisle stated they might open Sundays and Mondays to host occasions if sufficient persons are , however these days shall be reserved for errands and off days for now.
“I can always talk to J&G and to use a space for an event or something. We’re always encouraging people if they want to come and do it, just to let us know, so we’re definitely looking to do that,” Delisle stated.
Filling a niche
As the primary food and drinks enterprise within the J&G Commercial Complex in Maite, Cafe Kiki Manga is filling a much-needed hole for the employees and residents within the space. Moreover, the cafe is already drawing the eye of espresso lovers in addition to the cosplay and manga neighborhood six weeks after their tender opening.
Delisle stated opening the cafe was principally to cater to the opposite companies within the constructing who had nowhere else shut by to go for meals or drinks. He stated the area was initially his magnificence salon, Ha’ani Salon, which was relocated across the nook to the area the place his mom’s magnificence college was once.
The magnificence college needed to shut down since Delisle’s mom was getting older and there was nobody licensed to take over the enterprise.
“This space was an open space, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do here. While we were thinking about it, one of the people that works over at the admin for J&G said, ‘You should open up a coffee shop. There’s never been any food place here before,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s not a bad idea,’” Delisle stated.
Delisle stated the concept made a whole lot of sense, as a result of there have been no meals institutions within the constructing beforehand, which additionally homes San Jose Supermarket, Shop 4 Less, Paradise Playground, Town House Furniture and different companies.
“It’s been about a month and a half, and we’ve only been catering to everybody working in the area, which has kept us pretty busy. It’s been a nice, slow, gradual pickup because people are hearing about us, and a lot of manga groups and cosplayers are coming in here, so people are starting to hear about it,” Delisle stated.