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COFFEE
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IN THE NEWS
BIOGRAPHY
Housed in a restored turn-of-the-century schoolhouse Santos-Dumont serves its customers locally roasted organic coffee, quality espresso drinks, delicious homemade baked goods and premium ice cream in a stylish Belle Époque setting. The original slate chalkboards await each visitor’s artistic expression, and the warm woodwork and comfortable chairs offer a relaxing environment in which to enjoy a beverage and the company of friends.
A museum replica of the beautiful Antoinette aircraft graces the ceiling and sets the stage for the coffee house’s tribute to the dawn of aviation. Displayed throughout the building are early aviation posters and assorted memorabilia, designed to showcase the beauty and innovation of the early flying machines.
The coffee house’s namesake, Alberto Santos-Dumont, was one of the greatest
pioneering aviators. Celebrated throughout the world for his contributions to
early aviation, he is commonly referred to as the “Father of Aviation”. Inheriting
his wealth from his family’s coffee plantation in Brazil, Santos-Dumont left for
Paris at the turn of the century. He frequently impressed crowds with
flamboyant trips around the Eiffel Tower in his lighter-than-air invention,
the dirigible.
Embodying the turn-of-the-century spirit of innovation, Santos-Dumont took to the skies about 5 years later in one of the first heavier-than -air flying machines. At the same time Luigi Bezzera demonstrated his new “espresso” coffee machine and Europeans began to routinely enjoy this new modern coffee beverage.
Coffee was the means by which Santos-Dumont was able to contribute so greatly to the birth of aviation, and now coffee is an opportunity to honor the great pioneers of aviation, celebrating their innovation, courage and belief in the progress of man.
