Ritual Roasters, we always knew

The cat is out of the bag as they say and now the subsversive nature of uber-cool urban hipster hangout, Ritual Roasters, may no longer be so cool.  Last week the New York Times highlighted SF's famous roaster in, Cafe Capitalism, San Francisco Style.  But we always knew the truth.  The coffee is certainly good, but lets just admit it, the PR and hype is REALLY where the brilliance lies.  Damn, now we have to acknowledge our lemming-like life go anyway . . . or head on down to Muddy's.

Yet Ms. Hassi, 30, demurs at the suggestion that her cafe espouses Marxist principles. Ms. Hassi said her choice of logos was purely aesthetic.

And the fact that some of the coffee mugs are red, as well as some of  the walls? Again, strictly a design decision, she said.

In fact, Ms. Hassi, 30, who majored in religious studies at Brown, has not read a single word of  Marx or Lenin.

“I’m a capitalist, I’ll admit that,” said Ms. Hassi, who has a second, smaller outlet in San Francisco and soon plans to open a third cafe in Napa, in the heart of the wine country.

Interesting 2005 article here from Wired Magazine on the opening of Ritual Roasters, Cafe 2.0 After the Gold Rush.