Celene Vargas
Arts Editor
Butter Café and Bakery in San Dimas offers an extensive menu and promotes high-quality food and coffee to the surrounding communities.
The business is owned by chef Ryan Angelo Buan and pastry chef Heather Sulaeman.
Located down the street from the University of La Verne on 671 E. Bonita Ave., the café and bakery has specialty coffee and gourmet artisan pastries as well as gourmet breakfast and lunch items.
The owners are also working on a dinner menu.
“It has a little bit of everything,” said head barista Hannah Lu, who has been working there since it opened this summer.
“(We have) coffee, pastries and a deli case, too. Sometimes there’s pasta salad, and then there’s salads and burgers and stuff.”
Lu said she also enjoys the friendly working environment.
“It’s more of a family than just a job,” she said.
Her favorite item is the macchiato because she says it is like straight espresso.
“The coffee is phenomenal,” Buan said. “If you like coffee and for students who need, maybe, a little bit of a pick-me-up to study, you have to try the coffee.”
Buan and Sulaeman met when they were working together in Pasadena near Old Town. He was the line cook and she was the pastry chef.
“Just like any young entrepreneur, you want something that’s your own and that you can make the decisions for yourself,” Buan said.
Buan has worked in Pasadena, Hollywood and popular establishments like Nobu and the Langham hotel.
The owners chose to open a bakery in this area because they felt it was something that would flourish, since they do not think there is anything like it nearby, Buan said.
Butter Café and Bakery has a minimalistic design with a lot of space and large windows.
There was a soft opening on July 3 and an official opening on Aug. 28.
The price range for the food is from about $6 to $12. The coffees range from about $2.50 to $4.50 not counting refills or extras.
“Business seems really good, and all the customers pretty much have good things to say about our food and our service,” said barista and La Verne senior economics major Mark Jebbia.
One of his favorite menu items is the brisket sandwich made using French baked baguettes.The sandwich is also one of the most popular items.
When it comes to the style of the food, Buan said the pastries have a very European feel to them.
“The coffee is specialty, now whether or not it can be called European is debatable because specialty coffee here in America is different from, like, say you go to a café in Paris or you go to a café in Rome,” Buan said.
In order to have the high quality Butter Café and Bakery promotes, they opt for roasters who work with fair trade farmers when they buy their coffee beans.
“It’s fair trade, so you know the farmers are getting paid what they should be getting paid, given that we’re getting a commodity out of them but not taking advantage of those farmers,” Buan said.
Butter Café and Bakery currently has no student discounts, but the owners are working on future promotions.
Celene Vargas can be reached at celene.vargas@laverne.edu.
