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Kafe Bohem, Bistro Bohem's Next-Door Coffee House on Florida Avenue in LeDroit Park - Closed


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Open only since September, Kafe Bohem (KB) totally deserves its own topic here on dr.com. I begin with this just because there already is a topic for the associated restaurant, Bistro Bohem, which is under the same ownership and shares a wall.

Coffee shops are culturally rich for many reasons and this is just one part of their attraction. Most obvious is the coffee/product. We discuss that alot here on the site. Sometimes other beverages or foods. The venue itself. The historical or regional background of the owners or guiding philosophy, including (but definitely not limited to) the various policies in place guiding everything from laptop usage to whether a small glass of water is served with an espresso. And, as important as anything else, the people who frequent the shop.

Why start out a topic with the stuff above? Because just when I find myself slipping down the slope of believing we may be approaching coffee shop saturation in DC soon, I come across something that makes me realize the silliness of that notion. We're not even close.

HEADLINE

A wonderful place to sip, munch, work or talk, all packaged in a way fundamentally different from the many other great coffee shop spots in Washington, DC.

VENUE

Kafe Bohem is located in Ledroit Park right where Florida, 6th and T (all NW) converge. The coffee preparation area and checkout are on the left at the entrance and are relatively small relative to the generous amount of square footage devoted to smaller and larger tables. The amount of space (and thus ease of getting a place to sit, talk or work) rivals anything in the city. And, when you also add the 40 or so seats in the restaurant (also available to cafe patrons during the day), this is about as spacious as it gets with maybe only Coffy Kafe in Columbia Heights close on a pure square footage basis.

The cafe has a a darker (but not dark) feel befitting its eastern European orientation. Dark woods, exposed brick, beautifully darker stained wood floors. Outlets have been thoughtfully located to allow connection from most any cafe table. Free encryptied wifi. While the password is printed on the bottom of any receipt, seems now that they may be using an unchanging phone number 🙂

While there's a definite seriousness to the coffee and baking (more on that to follow), there's a professional and capable casualness to the service and general vibe. Music nicely completes the feeling of tranquil third-placedness without at all being too loud or interfering with conversation in any way.

COFFEE

KB's coffee program is exclusively based on Julius Meinl coffees. Julius Meinl is a 150-year-old coffee purveyor from central Europe, headquartered in Vienna. Their US presence is new and limited with three Julius Meinl shops in Chicago and, as far as I know, just Kafe Bohem representing them here. The coffees are of high quality and sourced from the familiar regions in Africa and Latin America. As notable, roasting for the US market is done in Chicago so no issues with freshness.

Consistent with German/Austrian thinking on coffee, coffee drinks are made with medium roasted and not dark beans. The latter are used for espresso.

I had a "Melange Viennese" which, at KB, is identical to a wet cappuccino. Different from how some define the drink in Europe, where it can also be called a Wiener Melange and made with coffee in addition to the espresso and milk or foam. More on that for coffee geeks here.

My capp was very nicely made with perfect balance of milk to espresso and served very warm to barely hot (versus scalding).

A pour-over bar is planned and well underway and will feature single origin coffees. I was told this should reach fruition by the end of the year. By the looks of things, they seem to have a good variety of quality looseleaf teas on offer as well.

PASTRIES

Simply stated, the pastries here are better than those I've had or seen at any other coffee shop in the area. I didn't ask about the baker or learn more about what they're doing but, based on a wonderfully fresh, flaky and moist apple streudel and a surprisingly generous (maybe 1.75 inches thick) slice of apple cake which also managed to be very light, someone here knows what they're doing.

BOTTOM LINE

Kafe Bohem is a wonderful addition to the DC coffee/cafe scene, proving there's still much that can be innovated and enriched when it comes to places to get a cup to run, hang or something else.

I've never tried the restaurant but, based on this visit to the cafe, will soon. If you like good coffee and/or are looking for a good place to connect with someone or get some work done, you can't do too much better than coming to Ledroit Park for KB.

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Something similar to TCB's stroopwafels are included with every cup of coffee or espresso drink at Kafe Bohem also. Not sure what they're called but clearly they're a second cousin kind of treat.

They used to be included with every cup at Bohem. Now it's about 30/70 that I get one. Admittedly this is usually for to go orders. Your odds on getting one seem a lot higher with a sit down order (and that may be their policy now, something I'm totally fine with). They are quite good.

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They used to be included with every cup at Bohem. Now it's about 30/70 that I get one. Admittedly this is usually for to go orders. Your odds on getting one seem a lot higher with a sit down order (and that may be their policy now, something I'm totally fine with). They are quite good.

Interesting. The last few cups I've had there were stay orders but thought I'd gotten one with to-go orders this calendar year also. I'd be interested to ask them. Bet they'd either let you know a policy or just gladly provide one on request with a to-go order.

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