About Vega & Special Xtra - Blue Bottle Coffee Retailers

After 16 years of operating 330 Ritch Street Restaurant & Nightclub, Kirk Harper and John Quintos embarked on their new venture, a series of Lambretta-themed coffee spots featuring one of the finest coffee brands in the world -Blue Bottle Coffee. Established in San Francisco in 2004, Blue Bottle is the darling of the gourmet coffee world and is renowned for their made-to-order individual drip coffee and espresso drinks. No frappucinos, flavored coffees and all the rest, just well prepared coffee made from daily roasted, hand picked beans, ground right before your eyes. The Blue Bottle difference is attention to detail...from proper barista training to dialing in the espresso machines twice a day to ensure the best espresso pull.

As for the Lambretta connection, both John & Kirk are 80s mod kids who met at a Madness concert at the Kabuki Theater and have been best friends and business partners ever since. As fixtures of the vintage scooter scene, they have been riding Lambretta motor scooters since 1984. Kirk says, "Back then we couldn't afford a nice sports car so we gravitated towards the cool Italian lines of the Lambretta and the style of the 60s U.K. Mod look. We loved the fact that we could get around in style and not wrinkle our tailor made suits jetting around the city. This passion for everything Lambretta led us to the idea of naming each of our locations after Lambretta models...Cento, Vega and Special Xtra.”