Community Corner

Homaro Cantu Bringing Cutting-Edge Cuisine to Coffee Shop

The famed chef/owner of Moto and iNG is opening a coffee and pastry shop in the Old Irving Park neighborhood. He'll use a 'miracle berry' to replace sugar in his creations.

Want to taste the molecular gastronomy creations of pioneering chef Homaro Cantu without shelling out the big bucks to eat at Moto or iNG? You’ll soon be able to when the cutting-edge chef opens a new coffee shop in the Old Irving Park neighborhood.

Berrista Coffee will open in the spring at 4219 W. Irving Park Road, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. The shop will be built around a small, red fruit dubbed the “miracle berry” that makes sour foods taste sweet. Cantu plans to use the berry to replace sugar in pastries and drinks, Crain’s reports. He’d like to eventually franchise the coffee shop.

Cantu chose the spot in part because he lives in the neighborhood, DNAinfo reports. Before announcing its exact location, he embarked on a Facebook campaign to gather at least 1,500 “likes” on the shop’s page, which he exceeded with nearly 2,000 as of this week.

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He told DNAinfo that he has another modest goal: put Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts out of business so he can hire their staff and pay them better.

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here