The Orion Online

Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Jordan Pollard Cassie Larry-Peters serves a customer at Augie's Fine Coffee and Tea located on the corner of Third and Salem Streets. The "green" cafe, owned and operated by St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church, opened in 2006. [Click to enlarge]

Every day Father Peter Hansen follows a tradition that is more than 1,000 years old.

As he gets up each morning, he puts on the emblematic clerical pieces of clothing: black pants, black shirt and the distinctive white-collar tab.

But Hansen adds a special touch on top of his attire, an apron.

Augie's Fine Coffee and Tea, located on the corner of Third and Salem streets, has been owned and operated by St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church since 2006. And the shop serves a variety of coffee.

Besides free Wi-Fi, student discounts, chess games and plush, comfortable seats, Augie's offers more than coffee to the Chico community, said Hansen, president of the board at St. Augustine.

Committed to being socially and environmentally responsible, Augie's serves organic and fair trade coffee in 100-percent compostable coffee cups made from corn because it is the right thing to do, Hansen said.

"It is a green business," he said. "And 100 percent of the profits go to charities. The first 10 percent goes right out to local charities."

The church itself is more than 100 years old, Hansen said. In 1982, the lot operated three bars and a restaurant. But the establishments went bankrupt, and in 1994 St. Augustine picked it up.

"We always knew this space needed to be a connection with the community and students," Hansen said. "We felt that we needed to give back."

Opening a coffee shop was the ideal way to help because it's a place where people can physically go to enjoy the community, Hansen said.

Aside from the fact that a church owns Augie's, the coffee and teashop stands out in many other ways. The shop makes all-fruit smoothies with no sugar for non-coffee drinkers and sells bottled drinks from Knudsen, which is locally owned. It also offers tea in silk bags, which means there is no glue and no bleach, Hansen said.

"Coffee is not a life necessity despite what people think about it. It is a choice," Hansen said. "The experience of the coffee place needs to be something that you can enjoy - a friendly, delightful experience."

And customers seem to enjoy the atmosphere of Augie's.

Senior Adam Wainwright goes to Augie's because it is new and different, he said.

"The artwork is especially interesting because it has a personal meaning," Wainwright said. "I studied in Ireland and can connect with it."

A place where people can come in and be comforted by the music and paintings is what the founders are trying to create, said manager Wayne Humbert.

And the shop's classic baroque style, its world music in the afternoons, the waterfall and the detailed Celtic art set the mood apart from all other coffee shops in Chico, he said.

"We are pretty happy about where we sit now," he said. "The coffee is better than anything else in Chico, and you are not going to find a staff that enjoys working as much as ours."

Danielle Salvato can be reached at dsalvato@theorion.com

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