New cafe to be opened with handmade ceramicware

Sue’s Gallery Cafe will open in downtown Saratoga on Oct. 14, selling coffee and tea in addition to ceramicware handmade by Sue Kang, co-owner of the cafe and aunt of junior Alex Kwon.

The cafe is located at 14665 Big Basin Way, right before the entrance to the mountains, far away from the traffic that clogs the intersection of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Los Gatos-Saratoga Road.

“The location of [the] cafe actually used to be my own home,” John Kang, husband of Sue and co-owner, wrote in an email to the Falcon.

The cafe will feature unique handmade arts and crafts, made by Sue and her friends, that will be displayed and used to serve food and drinks. Customers will also be able to buy and keep the ceramicware they like.

“Sue and I had a dream of opening a small gallery where we can showcase Sue’s work,” John Kang wrote. “Having a cafe in the gallery was a natural extension for us since we wanted people to ‘test drive’ her work by using it.”

There will also be unique desserts available such as “affogato or monaka ice cream,” and latest music from the radio.

They hope the cafe will attract students looking for a place to do their homework, discuss school projects or sit and enjoy music.  

“My two kids all graduated from SHS so I know how stressful the school life can be,” he said. “I hope I can provide a ‘mini retreat’ from [their] busy life.”

According to Alex Kwon, the cafe will also have an upstairs study room for students to drink coffee and do homework.

Although there is already a fierce competition between downtown cafes, most notably between Big Basin Cafe and Starbucks, Alex  remains hopeful that his aunt’s cafe will appeal to customers.

“I hope that a lot of people start going there instead of going to mainstream [cafes],” Alex said.

Alex admits that the business may struggle to bring crowds at first.

“Because it is located toward the end of Big Basin Way, it [will] probably [attract] people coming down the mountain rather than going toward the mountains,” Alex said.

Alex said that he is helping his aunt and uncle by advertising the cafe through social media and hopes to work there later after it opens.