Beautiful breakfast

Cafe Coda serves up culinary masterpieces with a side of music

By Matt White

For those willing to head away from the typical downtown coffee houses, Cafe Coda offers delicious food with some beautiful artwork and a helping of great music on the side.

Owner chef and part-time musician Eric Danielli opened the cafe Nov. 29 2006, and despite some initial struggles Cafe Coda has become the hot new spot for both local and traveling musicians. After a slow start in which the cafe initially had to scramble to get acts booked, the cafe has become a hotspot for artist of all types.

"It's kind of amazing how many people contact us," Danielli said. "It got to the point where I had to give the bookings to someone else."

Luckily for Danielli, many of the employees he has helping our also long-term friends from his hometown of Paradise. It has helped having people he can trust and the employees are really the backbone of the company, Danielli said.

"We want it to be a sure-fire bet for a place to go on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday that always has some good music." -- Eric Danielli

Since the cafe is located on the outskirts of downtown the restaurant initially struggled with gaining customers.

A lot of this had to do with the fact that at the start they only relied upon word of mouth and lacked the crucial walk-in traffic that supports other downtown cafes.

But now that the restaurant is nearing its one-year anniversary business is doing better and it's not hard to see why.

After entering the small cafe, patrons are met by dimmed lights and an extremely comfortable atmosphere.

The cafe's old brick walls are painted a vibrant red and adorned with artwork for sale by Chico artists lending a very art house feel to the establishment. The cafe is filled with tables and the walls are lined with booths providing ample seating to have a cup of coffee, bowl of soup, or enjoy some local music.

Artists such as the acoustic guitarist John Danley have played shows at Cafe Coda and Danielli hopes to continue bringing in talented musicians.

"We want it to be a sure-fire bet for a place to go on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday that always has some good music."

Danielli has booked country band The Devil Makes Three in December and hopes to have Chico locals The Mother Hips sometime in the near future.

Networking has helped the cafe get it's name out, but what has been really key is having both parts of the business cross promote each other, Danielli said.

Since covers charges go to the artists and the cafe doesn't serve food at night, most concerts result in Cafe Coda breaking even; but the fans have enjoyed the atmosphere so much that they often come back for breakfast and lunch.

This unique synergy between the restaurant and venue aspects of Cafe Coda doesn't stop there, Danielli said.

All of the dishes served at Cafe Coda are beautifully plated and could be considered works of art, even the menus tie back to the music theme that runs throughout the restaurant. Main courses are masterpieces and side dishes are improvisations.

Whatever the reason for a visit, Cafe Coda is sure to provide a unique experience that patrons won't soon forget.