Powerhouse coffee and pastry duo team up to open new Phoenix cafe

Mark Chacón points to a cluster of black tufted couches arranged at the back of Peixoto Coffee Roasters’ downtown Chandler cafe.

“I still remember coming in and sitting over there,” he says, recalling the first time he met the coffee company’s owner, Julia Peixoto Peters.

Three years later, she’s sitting next to him at a table at the front of the cafe.

“I remember when I first met you, it was this breath of fresh air,” she says.

Though it sounds like the perfect meet-cute, it was the beginning of a partnership between the bean-to-cup coffee pioneer and the celebrated pastry chef. Their collaboration is about to level up as the duo plans to open a coffee and bake shop in downtown Phoenix this summer.

Building a bond

Over the past decade, Peixoto Peters has led the charge for specialty coffee in the Valley, roasting and serving beans grown on her family farm in Brazil. She and husband Jeff Peters opened their first coffee shop in downtown Chandler in 2015, and added a second at Gilbert's Epicenter in 2022.

Peixoto offers baked goods from local bakers and the owner invited Chacón to her Chandler cafe at the suggestion of two mutual customers.

Formerly a violinist and journalist, Chacón honed his patisserie and viennoiserie skills in the Bay Area, working at some of the country's top bakeries and restaurants, including the James Beard Award-winning Tartine Bakery, Chez Panisse and B. Patisserie.

He moved to Phoenix in 2018 and three years later began baking from a downtown ghost kitchen, where he crafted desserts for local restaurants and pastries to sell at farmers markets as Chacónne Patisserie. He's expanded from there to supplying local coffee shops around the Valley. Chacónne opened a brick-and-mortar bakery in the former La Belle Vie Bakery in Scottsdale late last year.

In 2022, the baker was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef and was named the Valley's Best Pastry Chef by Phoenix New Times in 2022 and 2023.

Once Peixoto Peters tasted Chacón's creations, "the rest is history," she says.

Percolating over a downtown collab

Just over a year ago, Chacón wanted to talk with Peixoto Peters about another way they could work together. He had learned about a new building near Roosevelt Row that had space available, but if he was going to give it a shot, he wanted a strong coffee partner. His first thought was Peixoto.

“Family businesses speak to me. That’s what I want to work with. I don’t know anybody else who has a coffee dynasty,” he says, sipping a cup of Peixoto’s decaf. “I don’t know anybody else who truly is as bean-to-cup as these folks are.”

Though Peixoto Peters had plenty of questions, she was also intrigued by the opportunity to more formally team up with one of the most celebrated bakers in town.

“Mark has unparalleled standards of quality, not just for pastries but for the service he offers,” she says. “I know of his quality, I know of his drive to succeed, so I said yes.”

Late this summer, downtown Phoenix diners will be able to visit the result of the collaboration, called CP Coffee and Pâtisserie.

“There’s synergy in the initials,” Peixoto Peters says. “Still Chaconne, still Peixoto, and then, what do we do? Coffee and patisserie, so it just came together.”

A new cafe comes to life

The cafe will be located in the Wexford Science + Technology building on Garfield Street between Fourth and Fifth streets.

The bakery and coffee bar will operate independently, with two counters in the same space.

The co-owners branded and designed the cafe together to ensure the interior and patio feel elegant and seamless. Inside, rich green and terracotta subway tiles will ensconce the space, with touches of marble and quartz.

“We definitely didn’t want it to look like a food court, right?” Peixoto Peters says. “It’s modern-elegant with a lot of traditional aspects of a bakery.”

From the bakery counter, Chacón's lineup of flaky croissants, fruit-studded breakfast pastries and loaves of bread will entice customers. The cafe also gives his team room to offer desserts, including tarts and cakes, as well as a menu of sandwiches, salads and small bites, such as yucca fries.

From the coffee bar, customers will find Peixoto’s traditional and seasonal coffee and espresso drinks. Because the coffee roaster has teamed up with a chef, Peixoto Peters says this location may have its own dedicated specialty drink or menu.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to develop more culinary-driven flavors alongside Mark, so definitely looking to (have) something that is unique and celebrates this partnership together,” she says.

'Lots of opportunities for collaborating'

Sitting down together at the Chandler Peixoto, which celebrated 10 years in business in January, the pair brainstormed other treats that would fit in well at CP. Maybe the Portuguese custard tart pasteis de nata, Chacón wonders. Peixoto Peters suggests getting in the kitchen together to adapt her family recipe for her “mean” Brazilian carrot cake with brigadeiro ganache.

“There’s lots of opportunities for collaborating,” Chacón says.

He and Peixoto Peters both note that people will still be able to find their offerings at other locations around the Valley, even after CP opens. The pastries can be found at local coffee shops and farmers markets, and specialty desserts are served at restaurants such as Saint Pasta and Sottise. Peixoto’s coffee is served at other cafes, including Strip Mall.

The duo says they’re excited to be part of the downtown dining scene.

“I’ve never seen a renaissance of great food and drinks the way that we have (in Phoenix),” Chacón says.

Peixoto Peters agrees.

“To be in that scene where there are so many people to watch, there are so many people doing great things, it’s really exciting for us,” she adds.

CP Coffee and Pâtisserie

Opening in late summer
850 N. Fifth St.