Déjà vu hit me the second I stepped inside Kitsch Coffee. It took me a minute to realize I’d stepped back in time to the bygone era of Blake Edwards’ 1968 film, The Party. From the paintings on the wall to the amber-colored water glasses, the general sense of décor is vintage to the core. The café is part of Vanessa Murray’s Narrative building in Jack London Square. Murray’s collective is a haven for mid-century modern aficionados and their allies. Kitsch is a brand new addition.
The space was a perfect fit for Layla Kaufman and her partner, Max Rock, who helps out on the weekends. When I spoke with them, Kaufman noted that they are “giant vintage collectors and antique enthusiasts who love rummaging through junk stores and vintage fairs.” Before they started operating Kitsch, Kaufman had worked as a barista for a decade. Her years of coffee-related experience have informed her attitude towards the public. She’s a perfect host—bubbly, attentive and energetic. Kaufman also makes many of the syrups on the menu such as lavender, rose, strawberry, ginger, vanilla and orange. Although she’s only using the orange syrup, which she describes as “very light,” for tonics.
Before it became Kitsch, the space sat empty for a couple of years. Murray, Kaufman said, cleaned it up for an art show. After seeing the gallery filled with people, Murray came to the conclusion that the neighborhood needed a coffee shop, a place where shoppers could sit down and relax. Rock describes the café as a combination of Murray’s visual design and their sensibility at the coffee bar. “You can see the potential clash of styles, but it’s all mid-century, so it works,” he said.
Kitsch serves Four Barrel Coffee with a range of beans from different countries. The espresso is a blend of African coffees called Friendo Blendo. Four Barrel sums it up as “a balance of florality, brightness, and sweetness.” De La Paz is the name of the drip coffee. “Four Barrel acquired it probably eight or nine years ago,” Kaufman said. “But they kept the name and the branding.” For now Kitsch brews De La Paz’s Big City Blend, but the café’s also going to try the Peel Sessions Blend.
Kaufman’s curriculum vitae includes stints at Canyon Market and Tartine Manufactory, and for the past six years she worked at Breck’s in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond neighborhood. At Canyon, she became the supervisor of the coffee bar. “They had a great team of hardworking individuals; it was a well-oiled machine,” she said. Will Eagle, the owner of Breck’s, started the café as a wine bar. “But he had the brilliant idea of staying open for longer hours and making it a coffee bar café, too,” she said. While at Breck’s, Kaufman helped bring Four Barrel coffee to Eagle’s café.
Kaufman then left Breck’s to briefly work at George’s Donuts. Less than a month into her tenure there, one of Four Barrel’s account managers reached out to her. He told her a friend of his was looking to open a coffee bar inside of her vintage store in Oakland. He said, “It would essentially be yours. Are you interested?” Kaufman had just turned 30. “I was wearing a uniform and working for people and I had this dream of my own café, but it felt so far away,” she recalled. “I just thought I would try it. I met Vanessa and it felt like an immediate ‘yes’ and just wanting to make it work, and here we are.”
Along with her homemade syrups, Kitsch also serves what the young people want—cold drinks. “Gen Z, Gen Alpha—they want fun flavors and they want cold foam,” Kaufman said. “I am very new to the world of cold foam.” For those not in the know, it’s a heavy whipped cream. “But not too whipped, and it sits on top of drinks and it’s so rich,” she added. For the grand opening party, Kaufman’s going to work on her cold-foam game and come up with a few specials to run through the summer. I hope she names one in honor of the late Claudine Longet.
Kitsch Coffee, 590 Second St., Oakland. Check Instagram for the café’s hours: @kitschcoffeeoakland.
