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Campania-themed Italian restaurant may be named after a freeway, but it's more of a trendy hipster spot than you'll find in Napoli. Cork floors and walls in the wine bar and a wide open rear kitchen and dining area (they removed the old foosball table). In recent years they upgraded their coffee setup - forgoing their La Pavoni machine and, later, a Faema with dual E61 group heads for a more modern two-group Nuova Simonelli. They also replaced their very Neopolitan Kimbo coffee with local Blue Bottle Coffee and their Kimbo logo cups with traditional, thick-walled brown Nuova Point cups. (And they also ugpraded the price from $1.75.) They now serve espresso with a thicker, medium brown crema. In replacing their Kimbo coffee, they went from a dry, grainy, grassy flavor to something that's now much more refined and fresh tasting - a more complex blend of thyme, cedar, and some smokiness. Each time we returned since their switch to Blue Bottle beans, they seemed to get better - though the flavor could have a stronger profile to match its other improved attributes. They serve a true macchiato here (instead of something that looks more like a drowning cappuccino), and they use metal French presses for drip coffee. We can only presume that James Freeman of Blue Bottle successfully consults on the side here.
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