From beans to dreams
Strong alliance between French-inspired café and CB&T brews a flavorful success story
BY DEBRA GELBART
C HRISTINE PEREZ WANTS YOU to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or cappuccino the way Europeans do. It’s part of the reason she enjoys owning and operating Café Madeleine, a French-inspired casual eatery with two locations—in South Park and North Park— in the heart of San Diego. “When I traveled to France, I really got a sense of the lifestyle of cafes,” she says. “You’re not just there to eat. You’re there to chat and enjoy a cup of coffee while experiencing the time to simply sit and be, instead of running around with a white paper coffee cup and rushing off to your next appointment.” Savoring the atmosphere Perez notes that when she and her staff began offering coffee at her original South Park location in a beautiful white porcelain mug, “No one really wanted their coffee in that kind of cup. Almost everyone asked for their coffee in a cup that they could grab and go. But the baristas persisted in offering customers the opportunity to sit down and truly enjoy their coffee by drinking it from a mug.”
Eventually, the idea caught on. Now, Perez says, 90% of their customers at both locations order their beverages in a mug. The beginning The notion of unhurried, casual dining is foundational to Café Madeleine, which first opened at the beginning of 2010. Perez was a teacher and reading specialist with the San Diego Unified School District for nine years, but was ready to find another way to give back to the community. She loved the idea of running a café based on her travels to southern France, and found a place to rent in South Park that previously had been occupied by a candle store. “Teaching gave me management experience and
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 16 | 2024
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