April 19th, 2007
  Cool San Diego - Cover Story, San Diego Reader April 19th, 2007
    written by Rosa Jurjevics

Taking up most of the 4400 block of Park Boulevard, Cream is fully loaded; coffee, tea, sandwiches, beer, wine, Internet, art, all waiting for those who need to be caffeinated, fed, imbibed, inspired, pulsed in, and wired up. There's the Mexican Mocha or the trademarked Mint Ginger Mojito (virgin), the addictive chocolate-chip coffee cake, or their turkey-cheese-avocado-on-sourdough. Gourmet chocolate from boutique chocolatier Eclipse is a popular item, and Cream now offers a selection of intense desserts, including one ominously dubbed the "Chocolate Bomb." Ambient music pumps from hidden corner speakers; under a glowing red LED light, wine sits in iron racks, glasses waiting above. There's even a chess set.

Over the seven months Cream has been open, owner Chris Coggan has updated his menu, which first featured a handful of sandwiches and pastries and has now expanded to the most recent addition, a blended tomato, cream, and artichoke soup known as "Tomatochoke." The creator of several custom smoothies, Coggan has expanded his dessert counter, which at one time offered the standard fare of Rice Krispie treats and chocolate chip cookies but now includes a selection of decadent desserts. There is the aforementioned Chocolate Bomb, popular with the Cream staff, a smooth, rich mousse covered with a dark chocolate shell and topped with an ornamental dollop of cream. The fruit tart, a hearty slab of crust, custard, and glazed strawberries, kiwi slices, and blueberries, is Coggan's personal treat of choice. He's also incorporated a selection of chocolate truffles, brownies, and bars made by local chocolatier Eclipse. Eclipse taps into the more serious side of chocolate. Some of the "infusions" are adventurous, like the peppered fig and goat cheese (and the poppy seed and anise) truffles. Some are definitely not for the faint of palate; one of the brownies includes, along with a milder hazelnut flavor, a startling hit of chili.

Coffee is still the main focus. There's Guatemalan, French, Hawaiian hazelnut, and a host of others, depending on the day. Coggan orders exclusively from Cafe Moto, a local company that roasts fair-trade coffee. At Cream, the ways it can be doctored span almost as many continents: there's the Vietnamese, espresso mixed with sweetened condensed milk; the Mexican Mocha, a blend of coffee, chocolate, cinnamon, and nutmeg; and Coffee Au Lait (coffee with steamed milk). It's no wonder that "Cream" is actually an acronym, from the illustrious statement "Coffee Rules Everything Around Me," a title Coggan stole (and adapted) from the Wu-Tang Clan song "Cash Rules Everything Around Me." This is not without irony; when Coggan first got the idea for his business, the coffee aspect wasn't even a consideration. His intention was only to lease a small space behind Cream for his clothing store, Neighbourhood, which he runs with business partner Christine McLaughlin. Around the corner from Cream, Neighbourhood is stocked half with vintage items, half with small-label, small-batch brands. Rhinestone-studded, ruby-red slip-on flats mingle with hand-screened hoodies; limited-edition jewelry and military-styled caps hang from carefully dressed mannequins. Neighbourhood was the intention all along; Cream was a happy accident gone wild. "I had to buy this business in order to ensure that my sublease would be recognized by whomever was going to buy the building," Coggan explains, "[and] because the owner had to sell, he could have sold to somebody who would have kicked my ass right out. So, I basically had to take out a big second on my house and buy a coffeehouse."

With his soul patch beard and stylishly bed-headed hairdo, Coggan looks more like your older brother's cool friend than a business owner. He's energetic and friendly and knows many of his regular customers by name. So does his staff, an eclectic bunch of young men and women who have all the hipness -- edgy haircuts, funky clothes, discriminating musical tastes -- associated with baristas but none of the pretense. The clientele has responded; while a few know Coggan and company from their pre-Cream days, many regulars have befriended them through the new shop.

Before starting his clothing-and-coffee business, Coggan was exclusively an artist and designer. He has a background in both graffiti art and more "traditional" logo branding, experience he used to create his own design firm, Coggan Creative. The tailoring of Cream evokes the spark of the street and the tempered sleekness of a creative, communal working space. Part of this is due to the building itself, which has a mid-'70s look, but Coggan is largely responsible for a complete renovation and redecoration. The result runs an interesting gamut between warehouse chic and neo-art deco, with ergonomic (and surprisingly comfortable), minimalist-inspired furniture, exposed-beam ceilings, and a sheer vastness. The back wall features an abstract, pastel-colored mural of overlapping, oval-ended lines -- painted by Coggan himself -- while the front of the store is dominated by plate-glass windows that overlook Park Boulevard. Coggan's graffiti influence isn't lost either; on the building's sides are two massive spray-paint pieces of voluptuous women amid a swirl of abstractions, both courtesy of Coggan's network of graffiti writers, known collectively as "MSK." The two murals were painted by crew members Mac and Retna, who worked by streetlight as a gathering crowd looked on.

For Coggan, it all comes back to art. "Just the process of building [Cream] is almost a performance art, you know what I mean?" he says, then laughs. "And it's an expensive performance, let me tell you. But it's an enjoyable one."

Recommended: H-Bomb Smoothie: tastes like a liquid muffin; Red Rooibos Tea: full of antioxidants, this stuff kept a bad cold at bay. Eclipse Orange Macadamia Nut Truffle: melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

May 17th, 2007
  Cream- One part coffee house, one part wine bar- Pulp Magazine
    written by Margie M. Palmer

If you've driven through University Heights in the past six months, it would have been impossible for you to miss the building. Sitting on the southwest corner of Park and Monroe, the peach colored exterior is almost completely wrapped in in windows which extend from floor to ceiling, and the facade is adorned with two of the most amazing murals within the city limits. And if, by some chance, you missed the artwork (although it would be highly unlikely- one of the murals takes up the entire south side wall), you've likely noticed it as the business which is constantly packed with an eclectic mix of people typing away on their laptops. And as I sit here, in the brief second I pulled my eyes away from my computer screen, it would seem that I'm in the presence of 25 other people who are either studying, working, or simply playing around on the Internet. Last week one of the employees told me that someone had recently come in and ordered a cup of coffee, and then asked “I don't have a computer with me, but is it okay if I sit down anyway?”

Cream. The name seems like a logical fit for a coffee shop, however the it's not so much an actual name as it is an acronym: Caffeine Rules Everything Around Me. “I was a graphic designer for 10 years, and in the early days I was one of the first adopters of the whole laptop coffee house. I was the dork in the back corner playing around on his PC for hours at a time. But I pretty much made my living for the past 10 years or so working out of coffee shops and cafes like this one. And I was always driven by the caffeine”, Chris Coggan, owner of Cream, shared with PULP in an interview earlier this week.

But Coggan never thought he'd own a such a business, and he never expected that Cream to take off in the way it has. Initially, he and his business partner subleased a portion of the building to open Neighborhood, an artsy, mod clothing store. “The main portion of the building had been a coffee house for years, but the owner was looking to sell the space because there were things about the building that weren't exactly up to code, and he didn't have the money to make the necessary repairs”, he continued. Concerned that the new owners wouldn't honor Neighborhood's lease, Coggan decided to purchase the business and make it his own.

“The business has done a complete 180 since I bought it. We brought everything up to code and have been slowly remodeling the interior, and we're still continuing with that process. It's an act and response thing- we make changes, see how the clientèle reacts, we pay attention to things they'd like to see and things that they'd like to have us incorporate, and then we move forward to the next round of revisions and upgrades.”

What once stood as a standalone coffee shop, Cream has become a cafe of sorts- offering a number of healthy breakfast and lunch items, a full case of decadent pastries, and an ever growing beer and wine selection. “We'd like to have something to offer everyone- a place where people can get food and coffee, catering to students during the day, and then at night lower the lights and raise the music, catering to the wine crowd.”

An artist at heart, Coggan decided he wanted to frame his new business in a way which would be a direct relation to the Masters Degree in Fine Art that he is currently pursuing at UCSD. “I almost think of Cream as a piece of bohemian, modern, living breathing art. Bohemia was sort of born out of artists meeting in cafes and bistros in Paris. My question was how to go about creating a similar vibe here- a place where people can come to work and study. A place where artists, scholars, and students can come and create, to share ideas and concepts. In the past, people used to come to places like this to discuss theories, art, and poetry with one another. It was singular. Now it's the modern day cafe is more of a satellite- there will always be people interacting with each other from across the table, but now there are others meeting and talking to other people on line, expanding the network cafe environment. It's an interesting manifestation of community, and it's interesting to frame that critically as being a work of art.”

And a work of art it is. Cream often lends it's walls to any number of up and coming local artists. That trend is expected to continue in the upcoming months. “We're trying to negotiate a really big art show which will be in conjunction with Comicon. The intention is to highlight a San Diego based company which makes comic books. To highlight their artists, other local artists, and to showcase local musicians. That show will host the official screening of a new animation by Randall Christopher.”

All in all, Cream is fast becoming the a favorite gathering place for the masses, so don't be surprised if you stop by only to find that all the tables and chairs are occupied. But whether you're looking to get your daily dose of caffeine, a bite to eat, or just for a place to kick back and relax with a book, as far as coffee houses and cafes go, Cream has certainly risen to the top of the pack.

June, 2007
  Sexy San Diego!- CREAM Buffs - Riviera Magazine
    written by Seth Combs, Gillian Flynn and Chantal Gordon

Hipsters are fickle, but combining fashion, art and music into one big, posh party can certainly get them out in droves. The nights of Kettner and Ray are still taking a page from Cream Cafe and Neighbourhood Boutique's 'every month or so' events. What started out as a grand idea for Neighbourhood's grand opening quickly turned into the social scenester's soiree of the season. The night got so crowded that fashionistas stood outside hoping to catch a through-the-window' glimpse of rockers Grande Ole Party and neighbourhood Model/muse Keiri Larsen. Hood Co-owner Christine McLaughlin promises something even better after the last one.