Coffee shop of tomorrow coming to Downey, featuring robot barista

DOWNEY — The Sarofeem family knows a thing or two about running a restaurant, having owned and operated The Olive and Green Olive in Downey for years.

But for their latest venture, they’re getting a little help from Tom.

Opening on Dec. 12, One Twelve Caffe looks to be Downey’s newest coffee hotspot, run by the younger generation of Sarofeems; brother-sister duo Sam and Sarah.

“We already had two restaurants in Downey, one that’s grab-and-go, and then the other sit down and dine [with] a nice full bar and restaurant,” said Sarah, 19. “We were thinking, why not let’s do a Café?”

This will not just be any ordinary café, however, as one of its defining features will be how its espresso is served: via an over $100,000 robotic arm, by Wingman Cobot.

Sarah says that “every café needs a wow factor.”

“As we went to our coffee conventions, we went to one in Anaheim and we saw this robot arm that is fairly new,” said Sarah. “The closest one to us that has a robot arm that makes drinks is in Las Vegas, and the Las Vegas location is like a bar.

“We’re the first ones in California to have a café robot arm, and that is our wow factor.”

Sam, 21, says the machine, affectionately named Tom, can produce a shot of espresso in about 58 seconds.

“The robot does everything as a barista would do,” said Sam. “It grinds and extracts the beans, it tampers it, and then it even washes the machine.”

The European style café will offer everything from crepes, pastas, pastries, sandwiches and gelatos, to smoothies, matcha, and - of course – coffee.

“We love coffee. I mean, us youngins, we’ve been getting into coffee and matcha. It’s become a big trend,” said Sarah. “Obviously, we’re part of that Generation Z where we think, ‘What’s trending? What can we bring,’ especially to the community that we grew up in, Downey.

“We live here. We want something great and exciting here, and especially to call our own.”

The name “One Twelve Caffee” comes from the suite number within the Downey Promenade, conveniently located next to The Olive RestoBar. One Twelve’s logo is also unique, incorporating the café’s name in a way that resembles a mug of steaming hot coffee, when flipped upside down.

Sam said that “coffee is a culture.”

“Every task that you do, when you wake up it’s already ingrained, ‘Oh, I’m going to go get my coffee,’” said Sam. “The coffee community is so broad, but we all love each other. We wanted to bring something exclusive to Downey.”