Meet founder & owner Grace

Greenwich Village is a siren song of discontentment, its melody catchy and not easily put out of mind. Though, as Grace would find over four years at New York University, the road to happiness, ironically, is paved with discontent. And emboldened by a bold brew, she made the even bolder decision to forgo the study of medicine and pursue her heart’s content. Grace would graduate a Lady Literate in the art of coffee and conversation, an alumnus of the College of Café.

It was not long before Grace was naturalized into the café’s diverse citizenry. Among the habitué were corporate professionals and their ritual morning drip. There were motley crowds of writers, artists, and musicians, their creativity laced with espresso. Red-eyed students conquered the bell curve over coffee. The bourgeois and the bohemian sat in mixed company, their conversations guided by caffeine deep into the night.

Inspired by the power of coffee to bring a restless and eclectic city to rest at one shared table, Grace returned to California in June of 2007 with a vision to open a café the likes of which she had known in New York City. She bought out Café Mezzo Mezzo, an old Italian café in Huntington Beach and immediately set about stripping away its tired visage. And in January of 2008, Café Mezzo Mezzo reemerged as Sweet Elle Café.

Grace, no longer a mere frequenter but now a proprietor, has in 11 years learned the names and rituals of many a habitué. And what seemed at first a motley crew of passersby in time has revealed itself to be a harmonious choir of patrons recounting melodies both familiar and new. And Sweet Elle herself, in the restless spirit of those Greenwich Village cafés, has reinvented herself when called upon moonlighting as a corporate office and a town hall, a studio and a stage, a church, a library, and a living room, and yet always and still a café.

Yet, 16 years on, the mission never was and never will be to simply be a pastiche of the Greenwich Village café. No, the truest mission always was and still is to serve and to be of service to all of you our patrons and our community. And while our name is no longer a clever mnemonic device by which to remember where we are located, we trust that such a device is no longer needed. We are after all family. And we are excited and privileged to welcome you once again to Sweet Elle Café. Welcome back home.