Inspiring Breath of Fresh Air

Thousand Oaks, California.  Sunny skies, rolling green hills, Stepford Wives style houses, with streets lined with... well, thousands of Oak trees.  That's where the name came from, after all.  In this conservative Ventura County suburb, among one of the many seemingly endless strip malls, awaits a new kind of coffee shop.  Traditionally, Thousand Oaks has been geared toward the older generations, with most shops and restaurants closing around 9 in the evening.  No real nightlife.  Even the Denny's my friends and I used to spend our twilight hours at, closed down years ago.
With a refreshing and modern style, clean lines, lots of space and seating, Five07 Coffee Bar and Eatery gives the youth of Thousand Oaks a spot to collab.  As I chatted with the helpful barista behind the counter, he told me that Five07 (pronounced five oh seven), according to the owners, had a special meaning: "There are five steps to creating something of importance".  The creation of this company, the products they bring in, and the daily creative process that goes on within, all fall under the five steps, which are written right up on the information board so everyone can share in their sentiment.  The five steps are Inspiration, Build up, Resistance, Overcoming, Collaboration.  As they do this seven days a week, that's how the moniker came to be.  And it works!  I instantly was inspired as I glanced around at art on the walls by local artists, business cards next to framed works from a different artist, and the list of upcoming live music events going into the next month.  Open 7:30am to midnight everyday, offering an 'open mic', night every other Saturday of the month, fresh food with local ingredients, a large coffee and tea selection, a community feel, and cordial staff, this is the all day, late into the night, creative environment that Thousand Oaks needs.  They had a soft opening in January and a full grand opening in February.  I already see myself coming back, maybe as soon as this Saturday for live Jazz.
I was naturally drawn to two items on the bold colored board, the lavender mocha latte and the matcha latte.  But I was there on blog business so I ordered The Boy & The Bear for a nice pour over coffee from Los Angeles.  My friend that was with me ordered the lavender mocha latte and let me try it as well as split The Confucius panini and the lavender honey toast.  After a few minutes our coffees were ready and were followed by the food.  I added just a little half and half to my pour over and that was all it needed.  It was sweet all on its own and very light.  As for my friends latte, Wow!  It was rich but smooth and oh so delicious with fresh lavender buds for garnish.  Might have my Saturday order already planned out now.  The panini was vegetarian with a slightly spicy homemade aioli.  As I chatted my friends ear off, the sandwich got cold but it didn't affect the flavor.  The lavender toast had such a beautiful presentation for such a simple dish.  That's not butter, that's goat cheese.  We both loved everything we ordered.
Seeing as we had taken up our table for such a lengthy time catching up, I suggested we go get a glass of wine before calling it a night.  She chose Stonehaus in Westlake Village.  If the name sounds familiar to my regular readers, it's because I did a coffee blog there a while back.  This time was just a glass of Rosé and a white Pinot Noir from Oregon under the quickly setting sun.  The weather was cool and we seemed to have the whole place to ourselves.  The opposite of the last time I had been there.
-Find the previous Stonehaus blog linked below.
Nice Place, Wrong Day
With the close of the day, I'm very happy that I have found a new place to share with you.  I'm looking forward to returning to Five07, not just for the coffee, but I love to support local businesses and artists, and here I can do both.

Stonehaus current wine menu