Remembering Mr. Espresso: Carlo Di Ruocco

Illustrations by Margo Rivera-Weiss

Edible East Bay shares in the sorrow of the Di Ruocco family on the recent passing of Carlo Di Ruocco in his 90th year. The founder of Oakland’s Mr. Espresso roasting company, Di Ruocco brought Italian-style coffee to the Bay Area when he began importing Italian espresso machines in the 1970s and then applied himself to elevating the local art of coffee roasting. We hope you will enjoying reading The Bitter and the Sweet, our 2017 interview with Carlo Di Ruocco—which features four exquisite illustrations by the late artist Margo Rivera Weiss—and we hope you will also read the Di Ruocco family’s Facebook post as it goes into the story of how this passionate family built a bedrock business in Oakland.