Thoughtful Coffee

German Village eatery takes coffee—and food—to new, sustainable level

Some places just have it.

And while exactly what that it is can be slippery to define, one of the newest eateries in Columbus—Emmett’s Cafe at 744 S. High St.—mostly definitely has it. And not just a little of it, either.

Maybe it’s Emmett’s location—nestled in a century-old building on the busy thoroughfare of South High St. in German Village, which formerly served as the office for an architecture firm; or maybe it’s the sleek, mostly white, minimalist interior that features a profusion of nature light and chic, hyper-simple decor.

And while an eatery’s atmosphere can sometimes feel too mercurial to costume, we can start getting into more tangible details now. Because one of the things we know for sure about Emmett’s—which officially opened on Oct. 24–is that the cafe offers a delicious menu of both sustainably-sourced coffee and food menus.

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“One of the really unique niches Emmett’s occupies in the Columbus market is we’re one of the few places I think that’s trying to do the full thoughtfully roasted, thoughtfully sourced coffee program, and a full food menu,” said General Manager Josiah Littrell, who came to Emmett’s during its planning stages this summer after spending the last seven years at Northstar Café.

“There’s lots of places where you can go to have a delicious food experience and a drip coffee, or a delicious coffee experience and some really great baked goods,” said Littrell. “But the sort of well-rounded breakfast/lunch/dinner food menu coupled with a really great coffee program is rare.”

According to Littrell, Emmett’s owner, Ben Kelley, was uncompromising in this regard, and brought in expert consultants to help craft both of the cafe’s menus.

For its food offerings, the eatery turned to local culinary consultant Lara Pipia, who specializes in crafting menus and culinary development. The end result was a slate of delicious items relying on bright, clean flavors, natural ingredients, and a deliberate effort to not overcomplicate items that work well as they are.

One of their best sellers, the breakfast burrito, features three scrambled eggs, jack cheese, crater tots, avocado, crispy prosciutto, house-made aioli, and fresh salsa ($10).

Another breakfast item, the One Handed, contains a toasted English muffin, egg over hard, melted white American cheese, crispy prosciutto, and house-made rosemary aioli ($5.50).

“[The One Handed] is sort of our homage to the classic McDonalds Egg McMuffin, but dressed up a little bit,” Littrell said. “I’m obviously biased, but at $5.50 I think it’s the best deal on a deluxe egg sandwich in the city.”

But it isn’t just breakfast food Emmett’s focuses on. In addition to a handful of fresh bowls and indulgent baked goods, the cafe also features an array of sandwiches, such as the fancy falafel pita, made up of pita, house-made falafel, herbed tahini, avocado, roasted beets, cucumber, and house greens ($12 with choice of side).

For the High St. spot’s coffee offerings, Columbus coffee pro Robin Myers—who most recently ran the coffee program at Pistacia Vera—was hired to craft a menu, and he remains on Emmett’s team and acts as a managing partner.

According to Littrell, the cafe’s coffee is sustainably sourced from Proud Mary in Portland (with their international headquarters in Melbourne, Australia). They provide Emmett’s with beans that work just as well in a black drip coffee as they do in one of their many espresso-based menu items, such as the Aussie Capp, which features a single shot of espresso, milk foam, and chocolate dust ($3.75).

And it isn’t just coffee drinks offered either. In addition to hot chocolate and a wide variety of speciality teas, they also highlight an interesting beverage that was created by staff member Sela Williams.

As you might have divined from its name, the Matcha-Butcha combines a shot of matcha with lavender kombucha, sourced from Skinny Piggy Kombucha in Cincinnati ($6).

“Part of what’s fun to me about opening a new restaurant, especially one that’s never existed before, is it can be this incredibly collaborative process with everyone that’s a part of it,” Littrell said. “Sela said, ‘We have matcha and we have kombucha, what if we made a matcha-bucha combination?’ It’s been one of our most popular items; people have been getting really excited about it.”

And it seems the excitement around Emmett’s Cafe extends outside of their creative drink offerings as well. It seems the neighborhood as a whole is taking note of the cafe, and Littrell couldn’t be happier about it.

“You know, we had a woman last night come in picking up a large carryout order. She said, ‘We love that you’re here in the neighborhood; we’ve been in four or five times. It’s my parents wedding anniversary and we were telling them about the food and they thought that they’d love it, so we’re just taking them a bunch of food to try.’

“And I thought wow, to be exactly three weeks in and to be part of those milestone moments of peoples’ lives; it feels incredibly humbling and exciting all at once.”

Learn more about Emmett’s Cafe at www.emmettscafe.com

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