There’s a new “progressive” coffee bar in the Peninsula: Local Krave.
Discussing his new business venture at 3642 Midway Drive, Quentin Sponselee, who describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur,” said his motivation was to introduce San Diegans to something new in the craft coffee industry that parallels, in many ways, the growing craft beer industry in San Diego.
“Ours is a third-wave coffee house open in the Midway District that features a local farmers market grab-and-go products,” said Sponselee, who’s in business with girlfriend Romany Huoth and his mom, Plemmie Vandervort. “That’s the thing that makes us totally different than anything else out here.”
He explained the three “waves” of coffee making.
“The first wave is Folger’s,” he said. “The second wave is Starbucks. The third wave is independent roasters (like himself) who are involved in a craft revolution similar to what’s going on with beer.”
A specialty of the house at Local Krave is a “pour-over,” which Sponselee described as a handcrafted, specialty cup of coffee. Another staple served at Local Krave is Bavarian cream-filled cronuts.
Sponselee speaks for local farmers market providers and their patrons in “giving credit to all of the people who make these products. It’s not cheap, but it’s made by people’s hands locally, and you can feel good about buying it and putting it in your body because you know it’s made of good things,” he said.
Sponselee got his start selling homemade organic ice cream in farmers markets throughout San Diego.
“We have an organic ice cream/sorbet business, and we became very popular at the nine farmers markets where we debuted our ice cream product line,” he said. “We make it ourselves using all organic ingredients, six quarts at a time that we sell for $10 in glass jars we call a microbatch. You can bring the jars back and exchange them.”
That venture was so successful that Sponselee came to the realization that “we needed a dedicated facility to produce our ice cream.” That’s when the site on Midway, formerly a juice bar, became available.
“We acquired the facility to make ice cream, but I’m on a busy street with busy traffic,” Sponselee said, noting that one thing led to another. “I love a good coffee, and I’m part of the third-wave coffee renaissance that’s gone on in Seattle and San Francisco with pour-overs, so I said, ‘Let’s do pour-overs.'”
The mistake most people make with coffee, Sponselee said, is in overbrewing it, which pulls out all the bitters and acidity.
“When you do a pour-over, you have the ability to control all those elements, keep the good stuff and leave the bad stuff so you end up with a really bold, smooth cup of coffee,” he said.
Local Krave has a logo, the Kraveman, a smiling caveman with big teeth, whose four-foot-tall image will soon be out on the sidewalk advertising the business.
Sponselee’s in the process of building an outdoor covered patio for patrons to sit. He’s also expanding his grab-and-go line to include acai bowls, kambucha, granola, Greek yogurt and craft wraps and hummus dips.
“The concept here is a coffee-centric showcase of local vendors, amazing foods made by local people,” he said.
Hours at Local Krave are currently 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We are so excited to become part of the neighborhood and serve our famous cronuts and coffee,” said Vandervort, noting her son and Huoth “have really made Local Krave a special place, and it’s their dream coming true.”
For more information, call (619) 906-0298 or visit yelp.com/biz/local-krave-san-diego.