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Business News

Collective Espresso to Open Second Location in Northside Later This Fall

Northsiders will soon have another place to get their coffee fix. Collective Espresso is expanding from one slightly hard to find location to a second, with the new Collective Espresso Northside opening this fall in the space previously occupied by Cluxton Alley Coffee Roasters.

It is a strange location, with the side entrance between Fabricate and Happy Chicks Bakery on Hamilton Avenue, but the main entrance accessed from a courtyard at Vandalia Avenue and Cluxton Alley.

The fact that the roof of half of the room is made of glass further highlights how unusual the space is. It feels like a secluded garden cottage that just happens to have a sharp new coffee shop with first class coffee, and is somehow calmly tucked away just steps from the bustle of Hamilton Avenue.

Anyone familiar with the original Collective Espresso, on Woodward near Main Street in Over-the-Rhine, will recognize that the new space is run by the same people.

Owners Dustin Miller and Dave Hart say that they wanted the new shop to have the same philosophy, but with slightly different methods. Where the original location has clean lines but skews rustic, the new location is almost modernist, with white tile and smooth wood counters instead of the barnwood of the original location.

There will be seating at the bar and a few tables, but not much of it. The owners expect the shop to seat about 12 people, similar to their OTR location.

Miller and Hart say that Collective Espresso Northside will feature a Synesso three group espresso machine made in Seattle, and will have coffee from Deeper Roots in Cincinnati, Quills in Louisville, and a rotating cast of national roasters including Intelligentsia, Kuma, Herkimer, Madcap, and Four Barrel. They say they will also use Hartzler Milk from Wooster, Ohio.

While Collective Espresso naturally specializes in espresso drinks and pour over coffee, the Northside location will utilize French Press coffee instead of the Chemex method used in Over-the-Rhine.

Similar to Over-the-Rhine, though, the owners say that Northside has a lot going for it and wanted to be part of the progress.

“We feel like there is a lot of momentum in Northside,” Hart told UrbanCincy. “It’s nice to have new neighbors like The Littlefield in addition to places that have been at it for years like Melt, Picnic + Pantry, and Northside Tavern.”

As with the OTR location, many of the decorations and accessories will be supplied by local businesses, with the frames done by Frameshop, the plants done by Megan Strasser at Fern Studio, the terrariums built by Jessie Cundiff, the signs done by Ink & Hammer, and the aprons made by Noble Denim.

Collective Espresso Northside will open later this fall, and have hours of operation from 7am to 4pm on weekdays and 8am to 4pm on weekends. Cluxton Alley Coffee Roasters, meanwhile, will continue to sell coffee at Picnic + Pantry, Fabricate, and at the Northside Farmer’s Market.

Categories
Business Development News

Park+Vine adds new vegan lunch offerings

Starting today, earth-friendly corner store Park+Vine will begin offering a variety of lunch time fare during the week as an expansion to their grocery selection and coffee bar. Melissa Cox-Howard, a former chef at Melt, helms the new menu and makes every dish from scratch.

Cox-Howard, or Missy, has a fascinating culinary history that has paved the way to her newest adventure. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Missy became a vegetarian in 1978. A year later, she started cooking.

Vegetarian-friendly fare was something of an anomaly in the restaurant world at the time, so Missy did most of her cooking at home. She made her way down the Mississippi and worked aboard the Mississippi Queen, cooking and serving in restaurants in the South for 5 years.

By 2001 she was cooking and feeding rock bands that came into town to play Southgate House “yummy, energizing food. The kind that gives you energy and hutzpah to get you through the day.” Her band mate Chris Schadler, now of MOTR Pub, loved what she created and encouraged her to share her skills with others.

After working at Melt and meeting Dan Korman, proprietor of Park+Vine, expanding into Over-the-Rhine seemed a natural choice. “I’ll be doing a number of things in one little lunch hour,” explains Missy. “It’s about flavor, supporting local, practicing what you preach, and a good time. The food should do all of those things for you when you eat. Of course it will be vegan (it IS Park+Vine), but it will be so delicious you’ll want to order it again.”

The initial lunch offerings will be available Monday through Friday, 11am to 2pm. The menu for today focuses on the season and weather – light, cold, raw. Barbeque tofu sliders, smoky potato salad, sesame noodles, and cold cucumber salad will be some of the offerings on the new lunch menu. Sampler platters will be available for eight dollars.

“I want to make food like my Grandma Mertie did,” says Missy. “She made it the old-fashioned way, and it tasted delicious. I do that too, but with a vegan, healthier, not so full of fat twist. Good for you does not have to mean tasting terrible!”

Photo by Jenny Kessler for UrbanCincy