Leo Maggio and his wife Brittani, owners of Valletta Espresso Bar at 682 N. St. Asaph
The espresso machine seems to pulse in time to the DJ’s music at the soft launch of Valletta Espresso Bar on N. St. Asaph Street Monday, Jan. 19. Jaden Mack says he’s playing coffeehouse music, “good ambiance.”
Leo Maggio and his wife Brittani are fulfilling a 13-year dream that started in 2013 when Leo smelled coffee beans roasting in a friend’s skillet and got hooked. Then he met Brittani with a mutual interest in coffee. They spent 8 years experimenting with beans and roasting technique in their kitchen and learned a lot along the way. Then they ended up with a stand at the Arlington Farmer’s Market in 2021 and at pop up events around the city where they marketed their newly established Dreamchasers Company Ethiopian coffee.
Leo and Brittani’s business was mostly online but a step at a time they were able to buy a small Artisan 3-e coffee bean grinder and in 2021 began sharing space at the ESP Tea and Coffee on King Street where they roasted beans and made their signature drinks several times a week. Brittani was always very inventive, adding a new inspiration to the lavender and creme brûlée lattes.
As Leo lifts up a large burlap bag of beans he points out with a smile, “Today we have a bigger better grinder.” He adds, “We have settled on Ethiopian beans from a better source of beans. We get better day by day. That’s my theory, to get better every time you do it.”
The favorite at the soft opening seems to be the peanut butter latte made with peanut butter syrup although Leo prefers the vanilla latte. “It’s made with miso, Ethiopian beans and real vanilla from the vanilla bean. It really pops.”
And Brittani still likes to experiment with different flavors like the date and the baklava lattes. Brittani adds they have expanded the availability of their canned coffee in several flavors to year round sales.
The espresso bar is located in Valletta Mediterranean restaurant which Brittani says they also own. Today the espresso bar is crowded with friends and family who Leo greets personally as they filter through the door. Some are neighbors, some are relatives, some train at the same gym but everyone agrees, “They are the nicest people.”
Leo Maggio has come a long way from his Artisan 3-e kitchen coffee bean grinder to today’s bigger, better version for his new espresso bar.