I try to stay away from the breaking news items, since by the time I get around to posting, the news is very, very broken. But this one is special.
A couple of years ago, [Sound Transit](http://www.soundtransit.org/) announced plans to demolish the building at the southwest corner of Broadway and Denny to construct the Capitol Hill station of North Link, a future extension to the light rail line currently under construction. (The new station would open, oh, some time around 2016.) I was at one of the community meetings, and the big question was, “What will happen to the businesses in that building?”
Those asking this question had one particular business in mind: [Espresso Vivace Roasteria](http://www.espressovivace.com). People will debate forever which Seattle coffeehouse serves the *best* espresso, but there’s no doubt that Vivace is the most important cafe in town. Howard Schultz of Starbucks made Seattle synonymous with coffee; David Schomer of Vivace made it synonymous with great coffee. People from around the world come to David to learn how to pull the best shots and make latte art. To give you an idea of how obsessive David is: on the menu at Vivace, there’s a pictorial border showing milestones in the history of the business. One of them shows the date when he achieved a brewing temperature of 203.5°F +/- 0.2°F.
To get to the point, Vivace Roasteria has found a new home. It will move five blocks north to the Brix condominiums, currently under construction. Expected completion is spring 2008. This is great news for many reasons. First, of course, is that it means the Roasteria will live on. (Vivace also has a walkup stand on Broadway and another sit-down location in South Lake Union, but the Roasteria is my Vivace of choice.) Second, it brings a very popular retail business to what is now an extremely dead block which has had defunct supermarkets on both sides for years. Third, it means one of the largest tenants in the new development will be a place with broad appeal and welcoming to people of all incomes.
Fourth, and most important, it means the Roasteria will be five blocks closer to my house.
