Coffee is a luxury for the local eater, since most of it is shipped in from as far as Indonesia or Africa. Still, it's difficult to give up on that morning burst of bitter caffeine.
Even if the beans aren't local, though, you can cut out the middleman and stick with coffee roasted and sourced by people here in the Bay area. And that's getting a little easier.
In 2006, a couple of French-Canadians relocated to St. Petersburg from Philly and opened Kahwa Roasters. Since then, they've managed to wholesale their aromatic beans around the world, counting stars like renowned French chefs Paul Bocuse and Michel Richard as clients. Locals could buy it in bean form, or head to our own Ceviche and the Don Cesar to get someone else to do the percolating.
Now you can enjoy Kahwa straight from the source, at Kahwa's new coffee shop (475 Second Ave. N.) in downtown St. Petersburg, just opened last week. Not local, per se, but at least we're keeping part of the process in the neighborhood. That's as good as it gets when it comes to coffee in these parts.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2008.