Koma Cafe, offering Italian-inspired cuisine and more in Takoma Park’s Long Branch neighborhood, has become a local favorite since its opening last October. Renowned for its specialty coffee, tea, and Italian-inspired pastries, the cafe has recently gained attention for its unique soft serve ice cream, which Eater DC praised as a standout feature.
According to Eater, Koma’s soft serve program was initiated by cafe manager Pete Niederer. With over 20 years of experience at Carmen’s Italian Ice in Rockville, where he rose to head manager and lead ice cream flavor developer, Niederer brought his expertise to Koma Cafe.
The cafe offers a variety of rotating soft serve flavors, which have become a hit in the area. Unique options such as brown butter pecan, vegan blueberry lemon cake, churro, blueberry caramel with gochujang, cardamom coffee, brown sugar fig, and Biscoff caramel are among the favorites. Eater writes, “All the soft serve ice creams Niederer creates are made with all natural dyes and flavors. He develops the flavors on his own by building a syrup, reducing it down in the kitchen, and adding it to the base. Every Tuesday new flavors are rotated in for the week.”
Koma Cafe is open daily from 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM. The cafe was the brainchild of owner Jared Mack, who, after moving from DC to the Long Branch neighborhood in 2019, noticed the lack of a nearby coffee shop. Within a year, he shared the idea with close friends Marc Pickering and Chef Brad Feickert, who enthusiastically joined the venture.
Chef Brad Feickert, known for his role at Soko Butcher in Takoma Park, is a classically trained chef with an impressive background, having worked at notable establishments such as Brian Voltagio’s Volt and Arlington’s former Oz restaurant.
Dylan Greer, the general manager and head of beverages, is a Takoma Park native. He previously worked at Frothy Monkey in Nashville, TN, and later at Takoma Beverage Company and Zinnia, where he honed his skills and passion for crafting exceptional beverages.
Featured image courtesy of Mack Ordaya @pinkkixmedia
