Amber Meier
Co-owner of La Fabrica cyclo café in Girona
Amber and Christian Meier are a Canadian couple who moved from Vancouver to Girona eight years ago. Christian is a professional cyclist who rides for the Orica GreenEDGE team. The two have recently opened a cyclo-café in Girona, a popular concept in Anglo-speaking countries. La Fabrica allows the couple to indulge their dual passions: cycling and good coffee. Amber showed us round and told us the story of the place.
1. Font de Fabrica. A free water fountain to fill up your water bottles. We have a lot of cyclists coming and hydration is really important.
2. Rocket Espresso Machine. Hand-made in Italy, our espresso machine is a key ingredient and the backbone to producing a great coffee. We wanted the highest quality and this is like the Ferrari of coffee machines.
3. Our cash register seat. Our register is mounted on an authentic bike seat. Christian used it during a race in which his bike crashed but we kept the bike saddle as a souvenir.
4. Fresh roasted coffees. Christian sources the coffee beans and then works with a local micro-roaster to create the ideal profiles to bring out the best in the coffee.
5. Cups. Our cups are inspired by Japan, where beverages are held with two hands. Like this you feel part of it and become one with your beverage. They are printed locally in Sant Jordi Desvalls.
6. Our treasure chest benches. Authentic old chests found at different antique stores around Catalonia. Originally we wanted them for storage but then realized that they work great as seats as well.
7. Our loyalty cards.Nine different professional cyclists who all have a passion for Rocket Espresso machines and good coffee. If you buy nine coffees you get one for free.
8. Copper piping details. We wanted to honour and preserve the space as much as possible, accenting it with small industrial details.
9. All of our bikes! We have bike parking, bikes on display and bikes for sale! We pride ourselves on being very bike friendly! In addition to road bikes, which are more for professionals, we also have Fixies bikes - just town bikes anyone can use. We have bikes for everyone, even for kids.
10. Our sign: “Life is too short for bad coffee”. We made it ourselves, stained the wood and painted on the design. We feel its the small details that people see and appreciate! www.lafabrica.cc