Cafe on Park San Diego CA

Flavoring everything from crepe cakes to smoothies, and famed for its use in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, matcha has fast become one of the year’s hot-ticket culinary trends with a handful of dedicated cafes across the country.

While San Diego boasts more than its fair share of craft coffee shops and artisan roasters, Eater recently got word of a bespoke matcha café currently in the works for North Park. Set to be located just across the street from URBN on University Avenue, Holy Matcha will mark the first green tea concept of its kind for San Diego, in addition to being the city’s first locale offering handpicked teas from Japan.

Owner/founder Geraldine Riaduara (a USD graduate turned matcha enthusiast) said that the café will serve two types of the beloved green drink: a ceremonial-grade matcha that will be brewed, prepared and served traditionally and an 'everyday' grade that will be used in a variety of preparations, including lattes and cappuccinos or served alone (warm or iced). There will be seasonal matcha drinks too, in addition to drip coffee, snacks, and pastries.

Design-wise, the concept will fuse Japanese and modern minimalist aesthetics with material elements like marble, copper, lush foliage, white brick and tall glass windows. Riaduara told Eater that she and her team are excited to introduce Holy Matcha to San Diego, and hope to have everyone sipping on some matcha sometime by late winter or early spring next year. A website is currently in the works, but for now you can keep up to date on all things Holy Matcha via Instagram.