Osmium: Dark Matter Opens A New Coffee Outpost In Lakeview
By Melissa McEwen in Food on Jul 30, 2014 3:20PM
Dark Matter has opened up a new outpost in Lakeview called Osmium (1117 W. Belmont Ave.), joining their roastery and espresso bar “the Mothership” (738 N. Western Ave.) and Star Lounge Coffee Bar (2521 W. Chicago Ave.) in their empire.
Osmium sports a simple streamlined menu compared to Star Lounge. Owner Jesse Diaz said they are focused on batch brewing and espresso at Osmium. The menu still has a great deal of variety, from their cold-brewed Chocolate City coffee to their Mayan Mocha, which glitters with flecks of fragrant cinnamon and cayenne. It might make purists bristle, but pleasing them isn’t Dark Matter’s aim.
Their other purist prickling habit is their wildly popular barrel-aged coffee. An experimental coffee that was aged in barrels previously filled with fernet by Few sold out swiftly.Their latest experiment, which will be served at Osmium, is coffee aged in barrels that Goose Island aged their sour beer Gillian in.
For snacks Osmium offers Do-Rite Donuts, West Town Bakery pastries, and sandwiches from Sauce and Bread Kitchen.
It’s not their only new outpost. Dark Matter is also opening a new warehouse that will allow them to store more coffee in a climate-controlled environment. This will aid them in their goal of sourcing all their coffee from producers they have a personal relationship with.
Osmium sports many of the zany touches that make visits to Star Lounge and The Mothership so whimsical. Artist Jason Brammer has so far filled the walls with a delightfully nerdy steampunkish mural featuring cephalopods. With Geek Bar also opening nearby soon, is Lakeview becoming a nerd mecca?