Sabine Blaese
Age: 37.
Occupation: Owner of Cafe Passé.
Reason: Instead of letting her beloved work space possibly fall into the wrong hands, Blaese took control.
Blaese has worked at the coffee shop, formerly known as ITL Cafe, since 2004. When her friend and then-boss Peter Mattson decided to sell the cafe, he encouraged Blaese to purchase it so it remained among friends.
Blaese saw the potential, decided to get "creative" with her finances and bought it. She took official control of the cafe Oct. 1 and opened it as Cafe Passé on Oct. 6.
Straight out of "Friends": Loyal customers volunteered to help do odd jobs like paint the cafe after Blaese decided to renovate. She said ITL contained darker colors and "was not inviting to foot traffic." Blaese introduced brighter colors inside and things like new tables and chairs.
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"The furniture was awful," she said. "It was not a pretty sight."
Not just joe: Instead of simply serving coffee and specialty drinks, Blaese wants Passé to eventually become a destination for food. She's added items like bagels and lox ($5) for breakfast and ham and brie sandwiches ($6.50) for lunch.
The cafe will continue having live music various evenings on the relaxing back patio, which has several tables and chairs, free Wi-Fi and piped-in music when there's not a concert.
How she got here: The blond-haired, blue-eyed Blaese grew up in Germany and moved to New York City at age 23 to pursue her passions. She garnered acting jobs in commercials and small stage productions.
When she became a mother to Lola Blaese, now 4, she decided she wanted to live somewhere else.
A friend persuaded her to come to Tucson, which she did in 2003. "I love it," she said.
Bet you didn't know: Blaese is creating a line of her own all-natural salad dressings. "I'm kind of a health nut," said Blaese, who calls the line Sabine's Dressings
She started out making dressings for friends, but word spread and soon she decided to start a business making what she describes as "Southwestern, Euro-style" dressings with names like Cilantro Lime Fest.
With the opening of Passé, she hasn't had time to make the first batches yet for mass production, but she is licensed and has a commercial kitchen and a Web site, dressyoursalad.com.
Within a couple of months, Blaese hopes to get the dressings on the shelves of Passé and local health-food stores.
– Kevin W. Smith
Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays; 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Tuesdays; 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays; 8 a.m.-midnight Fridays and Saturdays.
More information: 624-4411.
