The Morning Brew

Is there a more anticipated time of week than Saturday morning spent with coffee and the prospect of two days of leisure stretching ahead? Or a more romantic meal than the Saturday night of a date? Or better still, a more leisurely meal than a lazy Sunday brunch?

With the launch of this column, you can rest assured that I will be devoting myself to finding some of the best places to while away the weekend dining hours. And that mean finding plenty of opportunities to try the best breakfast, brunches and dinners.

Let’s start with Saturday morning coffee. Coffee houses have always been great places for hanging out, and it seems to me the less corporate and cookie cutter they are, the more they encourage community participation.

One such perfectly picturesque place is the newly opened Common Groundz in Hawaii Kai, where the coffee is award-winning, the fresh pastries and desserts tempting, and where breakfast is now on the menu.

“We’re excited about serving breakfast bagels,” says owner Robin Moore, as she talks about the new menu that includes salads, soups and sandwiches.

Common Groundz is neatly tucked between The Shack and BluWater Grill, and all three share the same waterfront location.

As early morning sunlight dances across the bay and hopeful boats head out to fish, it’s hard to imagine a more peaceful place to start the weekend.

Open from 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday (5:30 weekdays), Common Groundz attracts a crowd that appreciates a good brew — as well as a good crew of servers. As far as I can tell, without exception the staff here is friendly, cheerful, accommodating and polite.

“We serve the best coffee we could find (the phenomenally good Café D’Arte),” says Robin, who runs the café with her husband, Ron, “but we’re also committed to being a part of this community and to teaching our staff that a little extra attention goes a long way.”

With the introduction of breakfast bagels, sandwiches and salads, this should quickly become Hawaii Kai’s favorite morning hangout.

“We have free wireless access,” says Robin, glancing around at the number of people working on computers, “and we’ve even managed to match up people working on similar projects (such as a writer and photographer) together.”

With a wide variety of pastries and perfectly portioned petit fours from Sweet Street Desserts, Common Groundz offers all that you’d expect from a truly committed neighborhood coffee shop.

Good food, great coffee, gourmet teas (they serve Mighty Leaf), wireless access, live music, a place to meet friends and, in this case, a fabulous view.

Head over and check them out before the weekend disappears. I can almost guarantee it’ll get your weekend off to a flying start.

Common Groundz
377 Keahole St. # C-5
Honolulu
96825

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