Dispatch Coffee – Roasting and rolling

Dispatch Coffee founder Chrissy Durcak. Photo by Dan Haber.

When 25-year-old Montrealer Chrissy Durcak’s plans of opening up a coffee shop on Bernard in the Mile End fell through due to a shady landlord situation, she was forced to rethink her whole business. Luckily, what she came up with — a mobile coffee truck — was a stroke of genius.

As rad as it is to step out of your office at lunch to find a food truck dishing out pulled pork tacos or freshly shucked oysters, a truck that brews nice, creamy lattes or super smooth shots of espresso is completely awesome.

“I thought I could just put my business plan into a mobile service,” says Durcak. “I just want to showcase really good coffee and really good baked goods.”

The idea for Dispatch Coffee came to her when she first teamed up with some friends — the guys behind this summer’s Vietnamese sandwich delivery service smash hit, Coq Asian. Providing ice-cold Vietnamese coffee in mason jars to go along with their banh mi sammies drove home the potential for coffee delivery in Montreal.

“With Dispatch, I can fill the gap where there is no good coffee in the area and showcase a local, independent start-up,” Durcak says.

Working with Café Sardine pastry chef Kyle Croutch for all things sweet and sourcing her coffee from local roaster Guillaume Kittel as well as the company Phil and Sebastian, Durcak has put everything into making Dispatch work.

She found her Grumman van in Vancouver and shipped it to Montreal, painted it white with a simple, distinctive black postal logo, gutted the interior, got herself some serious coffee digs and was ready to roll — within Montreal’s food truck guidelines and laws, of course.

But alas, as with all fun things that go on in this city during the spring, summer and fall, during the winter, they usually stop. The reality is that when it’s 40 below, people aren’t exactly lining up around the block to eat or drink anything outside. And so Durcak decided to convert her brand new Dispatch coffee truck into something that would weather the winter — a pop-up shop.

Starting this Saturday, Dec. 1, you’ll be able to stop by, grab a coffee and a snack, hang out and, most importantly, stay warm — the van will be parked inside for service at 129 Van Horne, near Waverly. Durcak plans to be open three days a week until the spring (check their Facebook page and Twitter feeds), and is also available for private events and catering. ■

For more information, check out Dispatch Coffee’s website.