Espresso Profeta from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

A couple of years ago, the Grim Cheaper and my cable service stopped providing Bravo TV (and E!) as a part of their basic subscription, which absolutely crushed me being that I was no longer able to watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, one of my very favorite shows.  (Don’t even get me started on not being able to watch The Soup regularly!)  So when we moved to the desert and realized that our new cable company offered Bravo (and E!), we immediately went on TRHOBH overload and watched almost all of Season 2 and 3 in one evening.  Let me tell you, I was in reality TV heaven!  Especially when, while checking out Season 2’s “The Lost Footage” special, I was introduced to Espresso Profeta, the most adorable little coffee shop that I had ever laid eyes on, in the scene in which Taylor Armstrong asked Adrienne Maloof to be her daughter’s godmother.  I quickly Googled the name and discovered that the quaint little café was located on Glendon Avenue in Westwood.  Being that I am a coffee connoisseur AND a stalker, I have no idea how in the heck I had never heard of the place before!  So I immediately added the site to my To-Stalk list and when the GC and I were out in Los Angeles this past weekend, it was our very first stalking stop.

Espresso Profeta, which translates to “The Prophet of Coffee”, was first founded on September 8th, 2008 by Samantha Langford and Mitch Hale.  Prior to that date, the space that now houses the café (a brick-walled structure that, I believe, is named either the El Encanto Building or The Harrison Patio Building and dates back to 1924, 1927, or 1929, depending on which website one happens to be reading) was occupied by a different espresso bar, West Burton Coffee & Tea, that was owned solely by Langford.  At the time, Hale, who was one of the very first baristas to be employed by the world famous Espresso Vivace in Seattle, was managing Caffe Luxxe in Santa Monica, but had decided it was time to open up his own place.  While doing research on founding his shop, he learned that West Burton Coffee & Tea was one of the only sites in Los Angeles to serve Vivace beans.  He contacted Langford and the two decided to partner up.  In just three days time, the duo closed West Burton, remodeled the space and re-opened it as Espresso Profeta.  It has been going strong ever since.  And it is not very hard to see why – once I stepped through the front doors, I never wanted to leave!

In real life, Espresso Profeta is every bit as charming as it was made to appear on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Especially the front courtyard area.

And their coffee is to die for!  Espresso Profeta takes their java very seriously.  While there, I ordered an iced latte and asked the barista to hold back one of the espresso shots as I prefer my lattes more creamy than strong.  He explained that it would not be nearly as good sans that second shot, but I convinced him to make it my way, anyway.  And he was right.  While good, when I returned to Espresso Profeta the following day (did you not see that coming? ), I let the barista make my latte his way and it was sheer perfection!

On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 2 “The Lost Footage” special, both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of Espresso Profeta were shown.

In the rather awkward scene that took place there, Adrienne turned down Taylor’s request to be her daughter’s godmother.  And while I never thought I’d refer to Adrienne Maloof as wise or sage, she was exactly that in her handling of the situation, telling Taylor that being a godmother is “an extremely important position to be in,” and that she should “really put thought into” whom she chooses as her child’s godparent and that she has “to take it seriously.”  Um, ya think?

And while I assumed that the beautifully-crafted libations shown in the episode were most likely fabricated for the filming, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that all of Profeta’s espresso drinks, which are pulled using a Syneso machine, really do come out looking like works of art.  It was mesmerizing to watch the baristas perform their special brand of frothy magic.

Thanks to the book Location Filming in Los Angeles, I learned that the building that now houses Espresso Profeta masqueraded as the art gallery owned by Carolyn Ellenson Grant (Marie Windsor) in the 1955 film No Man’s Woman.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Espresso Profeta, from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 2 “The Lost Footage” special, is located at 1129 Glendon Avenue in Westwood.

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