This is an excerpt from by Rebekah Keller of UPTOWN MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ’09
“For us it’s all about the coffee. We live and die by it.” Foundation Grounds Coffeehouse and Café is another local coffee shop doing their part to make sustainable choices, but have approached it from an extremely eco-friendly point of view.
Located in Maplewood, co-owners Andrew Jones and Pedro Abbate say their organically-focused café sets them apart from their competition.“Our concept is to recycle every single thing possible. We want to be the greenest, most environmentally conscious coffee shop out there,” says Jones.
Even before opening the shop, Jones and Abbate had a green model in mind. While remodeling the store, they used environmentally-friendly Rick Milton Northwest Coffee Roasting Company design techniques, such as recycled rubber wall base, non-pvc tiles, sustainable bamboo bar and counter tops, and biodegradable cups lined with corn.
Additionally, the menu at Foundation Grounds includes as many vegan items as possible, although Jones is sure to note that they aren’t discriminatory against herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores—there’s something for everyone, including two different types of chicken salad: a hormone-free chicken version, and a vegan selection with tempeh. They believe the bakery really stands out as a focal part of the café, featuring a particularly unique item they call “goo-balls,” a no-bake cookie with oats, espresso, cocoa, and rolled in coconut.
But don’t be mistaken, Foundation Grounds is a true coffeehouse and they most pride themselves on the quality of their coffee. Their roaster, Goshen Coffee located in Edwardsville, IL, uses nothing but 100% organic fair-trade coffee beans, offering several varieties of both single origins and blends. Most notable at Foundation Grounds is their groundbreaking creation of the only 100% organic latte, using organic coffee, syrups, and milk.
“As far as I know, we’re the first in St. Louis, maybe even the country, to do a 100% organic latte, which is pretty exciting,” Abbate says. “You don’t have to order it, of course, but it’s nice to give customers that option.”
Another Maplewood native, Stone Spiral Café and Curios, features a unique setting, one which gives the coffee house its distinctive moniker: they showcase a sculptural stone spiral outside the café. It serves as a novelty that attracts customers, but also has significance to the owners. The spiral is a symbol of the soul in Celtic lore, and patrons are able to not only enjoy Foundation Grounds Coffee and Cafe Stone Spiral Cafe and Curios Doug Cassabaum & Grace Wilson Stone Spiral Café Pedro Abbate & Andrew Jones the sight, but also walk through the spiral.
