Meet Noah Lewkow of Cappuccino Man in Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Noah Lewkow.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Noah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The “Cappuccino Man” company started in Michigan in 1993 when my father, Elliot Lewkow, and our family moved from Los Angeles to the suburbs of Detroit. The original business plan was to sell espresso machines and coffee product to restaurants and cafes in the Metro Detroit area. That plan changed after a potential client asked Elliot to bring one of his machines to her son’s bar mitzvah and serve cappuccinos and lattes to their guests. At the time the “coffee catering” concept did not exist, especially in Michigan where there wasn’t even a Starbucks location.

During that first party, multiple guests inquired about the business and incredibly another six events were booked within a couple of days. The metaphorical lightbulb in Elliot’s head flickered on and “Cappuccino Man” was born.

My dad started teaching me how to make espresso drinks as soon as I was tall enough to reach the steaming valve. I started helping out behind the cart when I was about 12 years old and when I turned 16 my choices for a first car were limited to vehicles that were able to fit the rolling wooden bar inside of it.

After 1 year of college at Michigan State University, I decided that big college life wasn’t for me and decided to follow my dream of working in the action sports industry. I moved to Santa Monica to work at a Surf Shop and continued my education locally. I never planned on starting the Cappuccino Man business in LA, but my dad shipped out one of the carts and started advertising that we were “available for hire” in Southern California.

After graduating from Cal Poly Pomona and moving on to another shop in Venice Beach as a General Manager, the gourmet coffee catering business started to become more consistent and kept me busier than before. Eventually, I had to make a decision between the laid-back lifestyle of the action sports industry or to get serious about being a business owner. At 30 years old, the “grown-up” move was to give it a shot and officially launch the Cappuccino Man brand in Los Angeles.

3.5 years later and we have served at over 1,000 events in Southern California. The biggest month was December of last year when we worked at 70 separate events shattering every record ever set by the company. CappMan California now has 7 carts and 3 vehicles and averages about 35 events per month.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to success has actually been relatively smooth. I’ve learned a lot from experience and mistakes along the way. I have taken suggestions from clients, employees, event planners, and customers we have worked with. There is always room for improvement, growth, and efficiency and being open-minded is really important. When I first launched the brand in California I didn’t know how to do latte art and didn’t see it as a priority. My brother and sister had both worked in coffee shops during college and learned some basic barista skills like pouring hearts and leaves. That was really my main motivation to start learning, because I couldn’t let my younger siblings be better than me at something (haha!).

Sometimes it is hard to see yourself from an outsider’s perspective and being open to constructive criticism has truly helped me to improve every aspect of the business. The vehicles we use, our drink selection, attire, organization, and overall look of the cart has all been influenced by friends, family, and people who really care about the success of the business. I used to hire my friends and try to teach them how to make espresso drinks but over the past year I started hiring professionally trained baristas that’s when the game was really stepped up.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Cappuccino Man – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
For over 20 years Cappuccino Man’s tagline has been, “A Coffeehouse on Wheels”. That is exactly what we bring to any type of special event. We have decided to stick exclusively with coffee catering as the vending business did not prove to be profitable.

Our main categories are: Weddings, bar-mitzvahs, church events, school events, employee appreciations, productions, corporate events, real estate open houses, and in-store retail events.

We have served some high-profile celebrities (Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Dustin Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Rihanna to name a few) and have been hired by some very reputable brands (Nike, Lexus, Alfa Romeo, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Ave, and Caruso Affiliates). We have donated our services at many non-profit fundraising events and will continue to support charitable organizations in the future.

There are many things that set us apart from our competitors but our clients really love the look of our rustic hand-made wooden carts, our customizable latte art stencils, and our friendly and knowledgeable baristas.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
At this point in time the company has reached maximum capacity. We unfortunately have to turn down business regularly as we are often double or triple booked on any given weekend day. The next step is probably hiring a general manger to handle some of the tasks and duties that I have to take on by myself every day.

Another vehicle and more storage space will be necessary if the brand continues to grow at the exponential rate that it has been since 2013. More machines and more baristas will be needed to keep the business fully operational. These are all good problems to have and the plan will definitely be to expand sooner than later.

Pricing:

• A typical 2-hour service runs between $500 to $750 depending on guest count and location
• Each additional hour of service priced between $100 and $200

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cappuccinoman.com
• Phone: 310-351-5111
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @thecappuccinoman
• Facebook: Facebook.com/CappMan
• Twitter: @CappuccinoManCA
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/cappuccino-man-los-angeles

Image Credit:
Rebekkah Cefai, Jacob Lewkow