Chef Lucho Martínez carefully twists a yellow lemon on a grater, fine sprinkles of peel falling onto a bowl full of strachatella. He’s seasoning the creamy cheese—similar to cottage cheese—to make Café Tormenta’s sandwich of the day. The recipe is from María Fernanda Torres, his wife and partner in this and other restaurants; the most famous is EM—with a Michelin star—, Ultramarinos DeMar y Martínez, the bistro that had an abandoned street stall in front of it.

‘Rosa Late’, a specialty coffee. Hector Guerrero

“I looked for the owner and asked him to rent it to me. I didn’t know what to put, I thought of fried chicken, but I had always wanted to have a coffee and the fact that it was in a stand, the better, I loved the idea that it was informal,” says Lucho, and adds: “Do you want a coffee ?”

He serves me an Americano accompanied by a delicious butter cookie. Café Tormenta opened in March 2023, it is a mini cafeteria on the corner of Puebla and Mérida streets, in the Roma neighborhood. This gray tin stall—full of stickers—has a small bar that holds the coffee maker, the grinder, the scale to weigh the beans, the display case, with the only sweet bread available—a half-moon—and the toaster, where they put smoked ham sandwiches with Dijon mustard until the Gruyere cheese melts and the bread is golden brown.

On one side there is a record player, the object seems out of place, however it is essential. The first chords sound your melody of José José; guitar, double bass and bass; after…

Calla

Don’t tell me anything

Let the perfume of your neck

tell me everything

Let my hands describe it

and give me your fire

The idea for the vinyl came from Lucho, an inveterate music lover, “it’s a good match coffee-music, like it’s a cool moment and that combo is cool. Also, Tormenta is my vision of Mexico: What’s different about this with cakes? “It’s a very Mexican street stand, so at first I just wanted to listen to seventies music in Spanish,” he says while sliding cucumber on a mandolin. He is probably also a fan of José José because he arrived at the café on his bicycle and was listening to the same song.

Aspects of Storm Coffee.Hector Guerrero

Now the one who makes the musical choice is usually the barista, Sergio Giovanni Rodríguez, or the guest chefs, who sometimes take over this place and offer food that is easy to prepare and eat standing up, such as sandwiches, pizza or bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwiches). .

Torres explains how these collaborations work: “we invite projects that we really like about once a month”; Saying this, he opens a focaccia almost half a meter in half, side by side with Lucho he prepares this sandwichote.

“Thinner cucumber,” Torres suggests.

—Is that okay? —Lucho shows him a slice.

—Yes, pass me the kalamatas.

Everything happens in Martínez’s empty kitchen, the restaurant is closed until noon, and as Torres says, “it’s an advantage to have this here because we can cook some things for the cafe, we wouldn’t fit there.”

The small space is part of Tormenta’s charm. After all, coffee fits in a cup and gives a lot of pleasure, especially in the morning, especially if they are cold like those in Mexico City. Some people order their drink and continue on their way, others stay to listen to the music or sit on the benches, which are attached to the corner wall.

Coffee is the common denominator and, sometimes, it sparks conversations or pleasant moments, even if they are ephemeral. Lucho baptized this, his youngest son, Tormenta because “the name is intertwined with the idea of ​​creating a strong and united community, each person contributes their energy and passion. I love it, I believe that every neighborhood deserves a Storm.”

On this coffee-growing island—not at all stormy—Lucho can slow down, reconnect with the neighborhood and his origin. “Little by little I am getting closer to Veracruz through what I do, like I never lived there, only when I was little. I mean, we may have beans from Oaxaca or Guerrero, but there are always beans from Veracruz. Then there was a time when I stopped drinking coffee because I would go to coffee shops in the area and say: What makes you think I want to drink Ethiopian coffee? By? Having so much in Mexico. So the objective is also to position quality Mexican coffee.”

Appearance of the Café Tormenta space. Hector Guerrero

Not only has he started drinking coffee again, he’s on his third cup of the morning. He looks accelerated, Lucho is more or less like that, it seems like he doesn’t stand still for a second; In contrast, Torres carefully takes the lid of the focaccia and places it on the layers of cercatela, cucumbers, kalamata olives and arugula; He closes the sandwich and divides it into square portions wrapped in paper. It’s ready. He leisurely suggests: “We should get together every Tuesday to do this,” and bites into a piece of the delicious snack he has just prepared.

vegetarian sandwich, They add to the menu written on the mirror hanging at the back of the stall. A few months ago Dua Lipa stopped by, ordered a cappuccino with oat milk and made a selfiehis smiling reflection is seen among the list of specialties: Latte Rosita, Óleo Coldbrew, Óleo Matcha and Buena Vista. The photo created a real storm.

Storm Coffee

Category: cafe
Address: Corner of Puebla and Mérida, Colonia Roma, Mexico City
Price: 75 pesos