NEW BREW
Destination Dining
IFIFCINNAMON CINNAMON TOAST TOAST COLD COLD BREW IS UP UP BREW IS YOUR YOUR ALLEY, ALLEY, SOUL SOUL LOCO LOCO ININ MAPLE MAPLE PARK PARK ISIS AAMUST-VISIT MUST-VISIT COFFEE COFFEE SHOP SHOP
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By Kevin Druley Photos provided by Soul Loco
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in town
peaking the word “wanderlust” multiple times during a recent conversation about coffee arguably suggests something about Luke Goucher’s love for the stuff.
That Goucher also utters the phrase “passion project” underscores his restaurant group’s commitment to bringing the same fervor for coffee to their neighbors. At Soul Loco in Maple Park, the goal is to appease everyone’s palate, from those seeking a basic cup of joe to something more adventurous, or even alcoholic.
Since this spring, Goucher has operated Soul Loco alongside Illinois Crafted restaurant group cohorts Dustin Zeitler, Brandon Harris, Gavin Male and Dane Male, who began their endeavor with Lodi Tap House in Maple Park. The quintet conceived of Soul
Loco around the time it hatched the plan for Obscurity Brewing & Craft Mead, which opened at 113 W. North St., Elburn, in July 2020. “At the end of the day,” Goucher says, “I think we just wanted to build a place in town here that we could go to and enjoy that had delicious coffee, and saw kind of a need for that in the community and felt like there was an opportunity to not only do it, but do it real well where we roast our own stuff.” Among those starring in both productions is Carson Souza, the Obscurity brewmaster who also roasted coffee during a previous career stop at Pig Minds Brewing in Machesney Park. Space, equipment and Souza’s expertise and culinary-minded approach to both the
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