The Only Brand Of Coffee Chef Michael White Uses In His Restaurants

Coffee lovers can be very particular about their go-to brand. Some of the best coffee bean brands today include Death Wish Coffee Co., Intelligentsia, and Counter Culture Coffee. For chef Michael White, his favorite is La Colombe. The Michelin-starred restaurateur known for his collection of Italian fine-dining establishments told Tasting Table, "I love La Colombe coffee and use it in all of my restaurants."

You're probably familiar with La Colombe's coffee, as it's sold in many stores and cafés all over. Perhaps you've picked up some of the brand's beans to grind up at home or one of its popular canned draft lattes from your local market. The American coffee roaster headquartered in Philadelphia also has a slew of cafés in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and more. In 2023, the brand was acquired by Chobani for a whopping $900 million. Fun fact: The popular food and beverage company happens to make a darn good coffee creamer.

Co-founder Todd Carmichael cut his teeth in the coffee business working in a little café in Seattle while attending business school. The year was 1982 and the café turned into Starbucks (the coffee chain originally had two different names). Fast forward about 10 years and Carmichael was ready to start his own company after learning more about coffee in Europe. He considered other cities on the east coast but fell in love with Philly, which didn't have any Starbucks cafés at the time. 

Carmichael and his partner JP Iberti launched La Colombe in 1994 with a small café in the leafy, upscale Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. "I was able to get a 50-year lease for basically what it would cost you to lease a car. And that's where our first café, and La Colombe, was born," he told Thrillist. After initially roasting their coffee in the Rittenhouse cafe, they purchased a warehouse in the city and began to sell their coffee to restaurants and hotels around the country. Throughout the '90s, the business took off, and the rest is history.

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