A vacant event space in Midtown’s Jazz Alley is being converted into a single-origin Vietnamese coffee roasting facility and cafe by husband-and-wife duo, Charley Phung and Crystal Huynh-Kim. The cafe is anticipated to open no later than February 2025 according a deck shared with What Now Sacramento.
Phung and Huynh-Kim, the duo behind the successful popup concept, The Drunken Dumplings, recently signed the lease for 2521 Jazz Alley in Midtown Sacramento, which was previously occupied by an event space. The new roastery and cafe will be called Chloé Cà Phê, a beloved note to their daughter Chloé.
“After years on the road with The Drunken Dumpling, bringing our famous dumplings to festivals like 88Rising’s Head in the Clouds and even food festivals out in Texas, Charley yearned for something more rooted—a space where he could be close to home and create timeless memories with Chloé,” the owners stated in the deck.
The family’s roots in the coffee industry run deep as Huynh-Kim’s parents opened Café Chiều Tím, one of Sacramento’s earliest Vietnamese coffee shops, in the late 80s. Continuing the legacy, Chloé Cà Phê sources its beans directly from Vietnam. The cafe will roast its single-origin coffee beans during non-business hours and operate a coffee cart during the day with indoor seating available. The menu will feature espresso-based drinks and a few specialty options. The owners are also working on developing an instant craft coffee bag that will be sold online nationwide once prototyping is complete.
“This is no ordinary coffee—it’s Fine Robusta, Liberica, and THA1, sourced directly from the farmers who pour their passion into every harvest. Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee producer and number one in Robusta, yet it lacked representation in the specialty coffee scene; we’re here to change that. This isn’t just marketing for us; it’s our people, and we feel compelled to tell their stories,” stated the Deck.
Based on a timeline shared with What Now Sacramento, the owners now have keys to their new space and will spend the next month working on interior modifications to create a warm, artful atmosphere. The owners expect all equipment to arrive before soft opening, and aim to open in late January and no later than February.
