|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Five generations of the Marotta family dined at Nini’s Coffee Shop, a beloved neighborhood institution in San Mateo that closed in 2020. Now, siblings Sarah and Jacob Marotta are making the space their own as Kiki’s Coffee Shop.
The eatery will emphasize finding new ways to celebrate classic flavors across their breakfast and lunch menu. A variety of cafe cuisine will be on offer, including daily oatmeals, quiches, salads and sandwiches. The siblings intend on making the space their own while providing the same community-oriented feel as Nini’s, which got its start in San Francisco in 1955 and began operating in San Mateo in 1968.
Nini and Wally Swartz ran the coffee shop until their son Rick Swartz took over in 1973, which drew loyal customers by serving comforting plates of breakfast and lunch specials in a space where the walls were filled with sports memorabilia, old photographs and various knickknacks. The corner eatery will continue to be a family-run business thanks to the Marotta siblings, who are serving as co-owners and chefs. The name of their new eatery takes inspiration from their predecessor.
“Nini’s Coffee Shop was named after the previous owner’s mother, Nini,” Sarah said. “The grandkids in our family call our mom ‘Kiki,’ and naming the restaurant Kiki’s Coffee Shop felt like the perfect way to pay homage to Nini’s Coffee Shop while making it our own.”
The siblings both attended Burlingame High School nearby and grew up in Burlingame, just 10 minutes away from the restaurant. Their journey to opening Kiki’s Coffee Shop has been inspired by their local ties, but the duo’s global culinary experience has helped guide them on this path, too. Both Jacob and Sarah attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, honing their skills by training in cuisine and pâtisserie, respectively. Jacob continued his training at Le Cordon Bleu in London, where he received a Grand Diplôme, a professional chef diploma, before later studying restaurant management. Sarah returned to the Bay Area after graduating, where she worked as a pastry chef in a number of kitchens before opening up her own San Mateo-based online business, Beurre Pastry Shop.
“The move to opening up my own business came from knowing what I wanted to bake,” Sarah said. “I quickly realized while working for these other chefs that my favorite part of pastry work was product development.”
The beginnings of Beurre Pastry Shop can be traced to Sarah’s parents’ kitchen, where she started baking to locally deliver cookies, bars, brownies and palmiers – her favorite French pastry she learned to make by hand at Le Cordon Bleu. As orders picked up, she began vending at local farmers markets, expanding to breakfast goods, scones, cinnamon rolls, morning buns and quiches. Customers began forming lines at farmers markets to try her baked goods, and she eventually moved into a commercial kitchen to expand both the output and bakery menu.
Sarah’s passion for product development is evident at Beurre Pastry Shop, where she relishes the opportunity to explore new flavors. She tasks herself with creating a new morning roll every month, which she describes as the “perfect challenge” to take a beloved product at Beurre and explore new flavors. Past morning rolls include a Valentine’s Day-inspired strawberry and champagne flavor and a tropical-themed POG flavor (passion fruit, pineapple, orange and guava). Looking ahead, Sarah plans on serving all of Beurre’s products at Kiki’s Coffee Shop.
“We want to take Beurre’s menu and keep it available to customers in a coffee shop format, while also expanding to have a full breakfast and lunch menu available on a daily basis, all operating as one business,” Sarah said.
Sarah and Jacob are hard at work crafting the daily menu for Kiki’s Coffee Shop and taste-testing creations before opening. The eatery will also offer a variety of beverages, including coffee and tea, with an emphasis on specialty house blends of tea. As a prelude to their grand opening, Jacob and Sarah have begun to offer special afternoon tea services.
“Our family has loved attending afternoon teas all around the world, and that is one reason we were so excited to have an afternoon tea service,” Sarah said. “We want to continue hosting afternoon teas once we officially open our doors, and we have a few other dining experiences in the works.”
While an opening date is still being determined, Kiki’s is taking reservations for their summer afternoon tea series, with four dates available through the end of July. Beurre Pastry Shop remains open in tandem, with orders available for pickup and local delivery.
Afternoon tea at Kiki’s has been hosted on the restaurant’s patio, each with its own theme, decor and menu such as “School’s Out,” “Kiki’s Tiki Tea” and “Backyard BBQ.” The owners have enjoyed meeting the community through their tea service, where they act as menu planners, cooks and servers all at once.
The pair plans to reflect the Bay Area in the eatery’s design as well, and they’re excited for guests to experience the new elements firsthand. The siblings hint that loyal Nini’s patrons will recognize a few key decorations preserved in Kiki’s Coffee Shop. It’s this balance of past and present that excites the owners about their new venture.
“We loved Nini’s so much and were devastated to see it close for good,” Sarah said. “We grew up here, and we’re excited to serve this wonderful community.”
Kiki’s Coffee Shop, 1000 N. Idaho St., San Mateo, Instagram: @kikiscoffeeshop.