Slow Bloom Coffee, a well-regarded Redlands institution, is set to open its second location at the intersection of Tenth and Market. For many Slow Bloom employees, it’s a return to the neighborhood. Slow Bloom emerged from the sudden closure of Augie’s Coffee after a labor dispute during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Riverside location will share space with Hayet Aalbi, a “Levantine” Bakery specializing in Middle Eastern and Continentally inspired pastries. Hayet Albi is also an employee-owned cooperative, creating a combined space that offers high-quality and unique products and operates on the principle that employees invested deeply in the company will be interested in running the business efficiently.
There is no specific opening date, but as the build-out progresses, Slow Bloom is hosting Saturday pop-up events from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Pain Sugar Art Gallery until it can open at its permanent location. Slow Bloom’s current popularity in Redlands, familiarity with the neighborhood, and excellent location near City Hall and the Courthouse indicate that it should be successful for a long time.
This week, as pomegranate season peaks and trees all over Riverside are bowed over with heavy fruit, Seth learns about a project at UCR that aims to diversify the world of pomegranates with research into varied and delightful cultivars beyond the Wonderful.
In today’s Eat This column, a conversation with a respected donut shop owner led Seth down a donut rabbit hole to investigate whether Riverside’s independent donut shops are all serving more or less the same donuts made with the same industrially packaged donut mix. Spoiler alert: they are!
