Source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Cappuccino+Prince/3366000/story.html

By John Gilchrist

Back in the days before triple-grande caramel frappuccinos, before minivans with mega-cupholders, before Phil and Sebastian were even a twinkle in their parents’ eyes, Vince Izzo was at the forefront of the Calgary coffee scene. Arriving here from Pietramelara, Italy in 1968, Izzo knew he’d need a good cup of coffee. So he brought along an espresso maker and began sourcing beans from Italian roasters in Toronto and Vancouver.

When Izzo shared his coffee with friends, they liked what they tasted and asked him to bring in some beans for them, too. Then a few restaurants wanted espresso machines so they called on Izzo. Soon, Vince Izzo Imports was born.

Izzo fed and caffeinated the Calgary Italian community with the creation of the Napoli Sports Club (1974) and then broadened his reach with La Dolce Vita (1978). By the early 1980s his burgeoning import business (he’d changed the name to Cappuccino King) consumed all his time so he sold his restaurant interests. Huge art nouveau brass-and-copper Elektra espresso machines– the ones that look like R2D2–were his signature item. They held pride of place in long-lost joints like Mancini’s, Cafe Le Chat, and the original Divino.

Cappuccino King has reigned over a caffeine kingdom for more than three decades. And now, with King Vince retired to sunnier climes in Penticton, the throne has been passed to son Peter. Some call him the Cappuccino Prince, if only because, as Peter says, “It’s too expensive to organize a palace coup.”

Peter Izzo grew up around the coffee business. He tasted his first espresso at about the age of 12 but pulled his first years before that. “As soon as I was tall enough to reach the handle on the old pull-style machines,” he says. But he decided that coffee wasn’t his calling, so he traded in his espresso-pulling skills for a teenage job pumping gas. Then he worked on the railroad for a while. But eventually, the coffee business drew him back in. He began servicing the many machines that his father had sold to local restaurants and cafes. And just as he had with the coffee itself, he became hooked on the business.

Izzo now oversees all aspects of the business: handling sales, servicing new high-tech coffee machines, and providing the products to go along with them: tampers, Italian syrups, home-roasting kits, the new “red” rooibos espresso. And beans. Continuing the blend Vince developed with a Montreal roaster back in the 1970s, Peter now has it roasted locally at Kienna Coffee.

Izzo and Cappuccino King also support the local coffee industry and the many people who work in it. Three years ago, he helped create the Prairies Regional Barista Competition, which feeds into national and global contests. This year’s event goes tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 7) at Fratello Coffee Roasters (4021 9th St. S.E.). The top ten baristas in the prairie provinces will compete to see who pulls the best shots and who makes the best espresso-based drinks. (The event kicks off at 8:30 a.m.; admission is $5.) The top three will move on to the national championships in Toronto later this year.

Izzo sees the coffee business as always changing, always improving, always broadening its consumer base. “Good espresso is mainstream now,” he says. It’s taken over 40 years, but these days the Izzos can have a good cup of coffee almost anywhere. And they don’t have to bring their own espresso machine anymore.

Cappuccino King is located at 410 23rd Ave. N.E., 403-277-5169.