Goki Café Brings Authentic Flavors (and Good Health) from Oaxaca
Alfa Webster sets out a selection of cold beverages and pastries to be served up at the Dine Arcadia Coffee and Tea Tasting set for Sept. 22.
Restorative Teas and a Cornbread ready for the dessert cart
A tempting assortment of homemade pastries and refreshing beverages will be in the spotlight when Goki Café throws out the welcome mat to celebrate Dine Arcadia at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 22.
The coffee and tea tasting will feature signature fare created by the owners and founders,
pastry chef Patricia Cabrera and her husband, Andres Webster, specially prepared for busy Arcadians to get going in the morning, pause for a restorative interlude during the day or wind down on the way home from work.
Manager (and Arcadia High School alum) Alfa Webster said the house special poleo tea is a favorite of customers for both its unique flavor born in the forests of Oaxaca and its fabled healthful properties.
“It’s great for hydration and helps you recover the next morning when you’ve been out celebrating,” she said.
Served over a slice of lime, the Goki poleo is indeed delightfully refreshing. You’ll want to overindulge just to go over there in the morning and see how it works at those other tasks.
The tasting will also include an opportunity to sample the Goki’s homemade hibiscus tea (the “Jamaica”). Hibiscus beverages are well-known for their healthful antioxidant properties.
Goki also offers its unique artisanal versions of traditional Mexican favorites Horchata and Mazapan among its aguas frescas selections — with espresso shots if you’d like.
And its coffees are made from single-source beans from Veracruz roasted especially for Goki Café. The house brew is a delicate and flavorful way to wake up and take on the day.
But here, the baked goods are the thing.
“My mom is a trained pastry chef and when we moved here seven years ago, she dreamed of opening her own shop,” Alfa said. Ms. Cabrera spends most days on site, cooking up her own versions of traditional recipes.
The coffee and tea tasting will include a chance to sample decadant churro cheesecake, berry mousse and chocolate nut cake.
But the house specialty is Patricia’s own pan de elote or Mexican cornbread. It’s a delightfully sweet and moist version of the traditional staple that here is too high-class to use just as a bread to soak up gravy.
“A lot of our customers come take it home for dessert,” Alfa said. “It’s our most popular item.”
Other homemade specialties include besos de nuez pecan wedding cookies, cranberry pecan oatmeal cookies and polvorones de naranja or orange cookies.
In addition to the Coffee and Tea Tasting party, the café offers a Dine Arcadia special from Sept. 19 to Oct. 1: 50 percent off any iced or hot beverage with the purchase of any bakery item; just ask for the Dine Arcadia special.
By the way, the traditions that give the café its unique flavors are reflected in its name. In Mr. Webster’s native Oaxaca, the indigenous-speaking people know about peacocks, which they call the beregoki – that is, noble or royal bird.
by Mike Lucas
