Unusual Capitola spot is coffee shop by day, wine bar by night
You don’t normally see a restaurant that specializes in coffee and wine. But that’s exactly what Zizzo’s has been doing ever since 2010, when husband and wife Christine Shelton and Aaron Anderson took over the business. It’s even got an authentic piano bar (perhaps the only in the area), with live music. Zizzo’s doesn’t have a full kitchen, but they do serve small plates, sandwiches and pastries baked in-house. As of Aug. 1, Zizzo’s has expanded its live music to five nights a week (Tuesday-Saturday), and they’ll soon add a Sunday morning brunch with jazz.
GT: Are there similarities between your two specialties, coffee and wine?
CHRISTINE SHELTON: There are similarities in how you taste them. There are similarities in the words used to describe them. But they are definitely two distinct, different crowds. It’s just one business, but it does adjust from day to night. During the day, it looks and feels like a coffee shop. And then at 4 o’clock when the wine bar opens, the lighting changes, the music changes, the whole ambience changes. When people come in at night, they look around and say, “Is this the same place?”
Do you pair small plates with drinks?
I do recommend different dishes for the wine that people are drinking. It’s pretty casual though. I have chicken and artichoke dish on flatbread. We like to pair that with one of the wines we serve and promote. One of the reps of Ca’Momi Wines is also a musician. He comes in about once a month to do a concert and a wine tasting. I recommend the Ca’Momi red blend from Santa Rosa with our chicken and artichoke flatbread. It’s just delicious.
Do you stick to local wines, or are there international wines, too?
I have both. I have a lot of local. I have probably mostly California wines. But I do have a small selection of international wines, as well. I have a couple of Spanish, and a Tuscan red, a Furmint from Slovenia. It’s quite extraordinary. It’s close to a new Chardonnay, the unoaked Chardonnay. But Furmint is the grape.
You have some decadent coffees, like the Peanut Butter Mocha. What do you recommend to someone with a sweet tooth?
What’s really popular is the Blackberry White Mocha. It’s blackberry syrup with white chocolate and our espresso, milk and cream. We also have something called the Caramel Sensation. It’s a blended caramel drink, but it has caramel drizzle on it. What I like is that we have customers come in and the wife gets a glass of wine, but maybe the husband just wants a mocha and he can have that at night. They have a choice.
3555 Clares St., Suite PP, Capitola, 477-0680. COFFEE MEETS WINE, FALLS IN LOVE Husband and wife Christine Shelton and Aaron Anderson took over Zizzo’s in 2010, transforming it into a wine bar at night. PHOTO: STEVE KURTZ
