For coffee lovers Eric Kapp and Tomoyuki Kurihara, owning a coffee shop is the dream—a dream that was finally realized in July 2014 when they became the new owners of Hastings-Sunrise’s East Café.
“I’ve been making coffee forever…20 years at least,” says Tomo. “He’s been talking about opening his own coffee shop since we’ve been together,” adds Eric, who works full-time in the insurance industry “and we’ve been together for seven and a half years, so his passion kind of rubbed off on me.”
Tomo got his start as a barista at Starbucks (as many baristas do). He then went on to manage a coffee shop in Yaletown, training under Vancouver-famous coffee personality Mike Wong. Their enthusiasm for coffee is evident in every aspect of the café, from the friendly faces at the counter, to the sizeable collection of fresh biscotti, and the indie-hits-circa-2007 playlist streaming softly from the speakers.
