Coffee and scripture

Michele Marr

Four and a half years ago, Rose Fong bought Streetlite Espresso

Cafe, name and all. She has worked at the Downtown cafe upward of 12

hours a day, every day, ever since.

How does she do it, “without burning out?”

“This is home. It’s easy,” she said.

If it’s not easy, it’s hard to tell.

Fong is relaxed. Even late at night, there’s no sign of tension or

fatigue in her face, and she seems undistracted by the never-ending

duties of running her business. When someone speaks to her, her

attention is undivided.

She’s soft-spoken and gregarious. Fong knows her customers. She

knows their drinks and their favorite pastries -- pastries she bakes

herself. She greets almost everyone who comes through the door by

name.

So when she remarks that the place sometimes reminds her of a TV

show, it’s hard not to picture “Cheers,” with espressos and mochas

all round instead of beers and highballs.

Home for Fong was once Lincoln, Neb. When she graduated from high

school with three scholarships to three colleges to choose from,

she’d never been far from Lincoln. She jokes that she made her

decision to attend Vanguard University in Costa Mesa “pretty much

because of the weather.”

Sitting at a window-side table at the cafe, Fong said, “It was

either Southern California or South Dakota.” She describes the move

to Vanguard, where she studied psychology, music and the Bible, as

“providence.”

Her scholarship paid her tuition, but to pay for room and board,

Fong worked as a waitress. Later, she gained management experience

when she worked, during a brief marriage, in the L.A. restaurants

owned by her husband ‘s family. It all prepared her for another

stroke of providence.

“It fell in my lap,” Fong said about buying the cafe. “Some

friends at church were struggling to run this place. They didn’t have

a restaurant background, so I bought it from them.”

Fong is a Christian, and so are many of her customers. Many, she

says, are not. There are Bibles in the bookshelves, a Bible study on

Sunday morning, and while Fong says the cafe is a meeting place for

Christians of all denominations, the place doesn’t resembled a church

or anything like a tent revival.

The place does so much business, Fong says, she could keep the

place open 24 hours a day -- if only there were two of her. Close to

a dozen part-time employees help her keep the place running now. Some

are longtime friends.

Others are customers with professional day jobs -- teacher, loan

officer, or corporate trainer -- who have long been friends.

“I usually know someone really well before they work here,” Fong

said. “They’d be here whether they were working or not. It’s like

family.”

She stopped a worker as he passed by.

“What’s the best thing about this place?” she asked him.

And he quickly replied: “Family. Food. Music.”

Fong tends to all of them well. She has created a room that easily

offers customers both community and privacy. Seating is clustered and

inviting, inside the cafe and outside along the sidewalk. There’s an

ocean view, books, board games and music. The lighting is natural in

the daytime and warm at night. Like home.

Fong bakes the cafe’s croissants, brownies, apples crisps and Rice

Krispies treats herself, “so they’re special.” She makes homemade

soups and sandwiches.

Frequently, there’s live music. Over the years, the cafe’s roster

of music has included local bands Soapbox Symphony and The Rounders,

popular duos such as D’Angeles and singers such as Tyrone Wells, who

formerly sang with Skypark. The music ranges from swing to a variety

of rock.

Much, but not all of it, is Christian. Fong’s musical training and

her love of music make its quality important to her.

“These musicians are good,” she said. “Some are really, really

good.”

Next month, the cafe will release a CD, a Streetlite compilation

of songs, recorded live and professionally mastered. It will feature

original tunes from selected musicians.

Fong is very excited. One of the songs, “She Moves Like Sea

Breeze,” a ballad by Tyrone Wells, is a favorite with Fong.

“It’s a beautiful love song,” she said in reverent whisper. “If

the right person heard it, it could be a mega hit. It’s just that

beautiful.”

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at [email protected].