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When you hear hoofbeats, logic dictates that horses, not zebras, should leap to mind. Every rule has an exception, of course, and Tōv Fine Coffee and Tea makes hearts go clip-clop with the caffeine in its Winey Zebra Latte ($7.25–$10.25).
The Egyptian cafe on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, which celebrates 10 years in business this summer after starting out in a repurposed double-decker bus, rotates an artful menu of imaginatively flavored and named specialty drinks. The Winey Zebra, a black-and-white mocha infused with red wine, galloped onto Tōv’s menu in February ahead of Valentine’s Day, and will likely trot away by the end of the month. Don’t stampede into the deep-hued cafe—owner Joseph Nazir was by himself during an unexpected midday rush on one of our visits—but do saddle up for a visit before the Winey Zebra rides off into the sunset.
Nazir moved into a former Starbucks location in 2023 after outgrowing his bus. Tōv’s walls are now a deep regal purple trimmed with gold paint. Instead of plain, boring tables and barstools, Tōv’s furniture looks like a showroom for the neighboring Gold Door’s global fine art. Geometrically elegant and ornate wood chairs are set around gold plate tables, while rich red windowsill pillowtop benches allow for sun soaking. Anyone who prefers floor seating is welcome to use the conversational pillow nooks for a dining experience even further removed from Western customs. Modern-classical Egyptian folk and pop music recordings play regularly, and on days that myrrh incense sticks aren’t burning, Tōv’s air is perfumed by ground Rwandan coffee and earthy-sweet spices like cinnamon.
The specialty latte menu at Tōv carries a combo of eye-catching names and creative ingredients, to varying effect. The Ex-Employee ($7.25–$10.25), for instance, is a fairly standard honey and cardamon latte topped with a generous foamy steamed milk layer. But the Winey Zebra’s flavor profile proves more memorable. Nazir uses Ghirardelli white chocolate and both milk and dark chocolate. Either hue would be decadent solo, but together they cancel out the aspects that chocolate critics take issue with (the richness of dark/milk and the sugar-sweetness of white). The port wine infusion, along with real strawberry essence, lends a romantic redness that lands somewhere between cherry and raspberry. The crema layer left over could be its own dessert if it didn’t dissolve.
Nazir tries to update Tōv’s menu seasonally, but admits he fell behind after taking on coffee roasting duties and domestic responsibilities as a new husband and father. Now that his roasting has hit its stride, Nazir wants to return to a more regular menu rotation. The Winey Zebra is a reformulated pre-pandemic recipe, enhanced not only by white mocha but by real strawberry syrup. Each syrup batch can last several months, and Nazir says he’s on the cusp of making a new recipe with updated ingredients. He’s used French chocolate for his milk and dark mochas, but will switch to a Belgian brand due to cost increases, and while he’s also used French ports in the Winey Zebra, the next batch will likely use an Oregon vineyard’s port.
Nazir named his business using the Hebrew word for “good” after hearing a sermon in church on how, in the beginning, things were good, or tōv. Nazir admires how little the language has changed from its Aramaic ties, and because he felt that its Arabic equivalent, jyid, wasn’t as catchy to average customers.
“Tōv just sounded really, well, just good and wholesome and heavenly,” he says.
He’s hesitant to celebrate a decade in business because he dislikes the attention parties bring, but concedes that the work he and his staff have put in over the years should be celebrated. Though several pastries come from Marsee Bakery, Nazir’s parents make traditional Mediterranean ones like baklava, basboosa and konafa.
“I want people to come to my coffee shop as if they are sitting in a different place,” he says. “Forget about your problems, try to enjoy life and get with people. Make life happen, make it tōv every day.”
WW highlights one drink each month to profile and review.
TRY IT: Tōv Fine Coffee and Tea, 3639 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 541-908-2555, tovcoffee.com. 10 am–4 pm Monday–Thursday, 9 am–6 pm Friday–Saturday, 9 am–5 pm Sunday.