Crumbs in my 'Stache: Taking Jack outta Jackson Hole Roasters

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

By Ben Cannon

 Jackson Hole, Wyo.-In this or any community, where you go for coffee can say a lot about who you are.

Hard Drive Cafe counts among its clientele various heads of Town and County. Pearl Street Bagels (in town) is a melting pot of mountaineers and hipsters, not to mention all the regular Joes who frequent there.

And ‘Jack’s,’ as some regulars call Jackson Hole Roasters, is home to – OK, I admit it’s hard to categorize everybody, but Jack’s customers are as loyal a clientele as those you’d find at any of the aforementioned coffee nooks.

Anyhow, it may have come as alarming news to some patrons of Jackson Hole Roasters when they heard recently that the man who put the ‘Jack’ in ‘Jack’s’ for the last 14 years, had sold the business.

Jack Malia confirmed this week that he has sold Jackson Hole Roasters. It’s a done deal. He’s now just a regular customer, albeit one with some consulting duties who will probably get free coffee there for the foreseeable future.

Now, the fact that a food/beverage business changing hands is not in and of itself always fodder for this column. But Malia is an unparalleled icon of the local coffee trade.

A longtime valley resident, Malia began Jackson Hole Roasters in 1996. He later moved the coffee shop into the front room of the Broadway cabin he calls home. At one time Cheap Thrills, the funky used furniture store he owned, was next door.

Cheap Thrills eventually closed, but the coffee shop remained, and over the years it accrued a clientele. Each morning Malia had to walk only feet from his bedroom to greet and serve a blosoming customer base, many of whom he befriended.

In the fall of ‘08, Malia relocated the business to the cozy little cabin next door on the other side. It didn’t have a kitchen, and Malia was never consistently able to offer much beyond some baked goods he carried, but, sure as the winter’s cold, the people kept coming, mostly for the coffee.

“Oh, man, his Ethiopian Yirgacheffe [blend] is the best,” gushed Steve Weichman, a regular. Weichman, the County attorney, said many of the Town’s attorneys are Jackson Hole Roasters regulars, although it should be noted that it’s the nearest coffee shop from the courthouse.

“I’ve discussed more than a few cases there,” Weichman said.
But Jackson Hole Roasters is a democratic coffee stand in a democratic community – it might even be a little socialist because you didn’t necessarily have to pay!
Malia implemented an honor jar for self-serve drip coffee a number of years ago, and he might even have let you walk out without paying for an espresso drink if you didn’t have any cash on you.

“Nobody leaves empty-handed,” Jack said. “It’s all about bringing people in. It’s community.”

The new owners – former Mangy Moose owner Pat Mahin and a valley couple originally from the Czech Republic – said they are committed to changing little about what attracts people to Jackson Hole Roasters. They do, however, want to add some better breakfast and lunch items, which may begin to appear in the next few weeks.

And Malia is going to return to what he apparently enjoys most – opening his home for business. Sometime in the spring, he’s going to reopen Cheap Thrills in the front room that used to be the coffee shop. But first he’s going to spend a couple months in Thailand, and he’s taking his two best customers with him. The friends might not own their after-hours clubhouse anymore, but they have each other, and this community still has them. JHW

Photo by MARY GROSSMAN
Jack Malia, neighborhood roaster since ‘96.


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Crumbs in my 'Stache: Taking Jack outta Jackson Hole Roasters | Planet JH News Article: Restaurants And Dining

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