The Crocker Art Museum\u2019s new caf\u00e9 operator, Anchor & Tree Coffee Roasting Co.<\/a>, set out to nourish more than innovate with its food. Its coffee, roasted at Anchor & Tree\u2019s home base in Midtown Sacramento, is a different story. To Casey Albert, who owns Anchor & Tree with his husband, Donovan, it matches up with the paintings and statues in Sacramento\u2019s premier art museum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always loved the artistic side of the business,\u201d Albert said. \u201cCoffee roasting is, I would say, kind of an art of its own. So when we found out that the Crocker was looking for new caf\u00e9 partner, we were like, \u2018That would be amazing.’\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tSign Up for the City of Treats Newsletter<\/p>\n Get the latest Sacramento food news from Benjy Egel in City of Treats \u2014 delivered every Tuesday.<\/p>\n Palettes and palates<\/p>\n Anchor & Tree opened in October in Teel Family Pavilion on the museum\u2019s first floor, which more than 200,000 people walk through each year. While most customers are museum attendees, the caf\u00e9 is open to all \u2014 admission ticket or not \u2014 with cheeky dish names meant to instill a sense of place.<\/p>\n A BL-Thiebaud chicken sandwich honors the region\u2019s most famous painter, Wayne Thiebaud, with green goddess spread, arugula and pickled onions on focaccia in addition to the obligatory bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and chicken. The banh Monet slaps Sriracha-lime aioli on focaccia with chicken, pickled onions and the carrots, cilantro and jalape\u00f1os one typically sees on a b\u00e1nh m\u00ec.<\/p>\n The Crocker displayed a Frida Kahlo original<\/a> painting until Sunday, so the caf\u00e9 added an avo-Kahlo tartine as a special. Its base: a Boichik bagel<\/a> from Berkeley, which continues to be available all day with cream cheese.<\/p>\n Anchor & Tree\u2019s Midtown hub doesn\u2019t have a kitchen. It also tends to attract more coffee-focused customers compared to the wider range perusing the Crocker. In a typical day, the Crocker caf\u00e9 might encounter children on a field trip, young professionals on breaks from nearby office jobs and organized artistic groups attending monthly meetups.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more of an organized gathering spot where groups will come and have their meetings,\u201d Albert said. \u201cWe definitely see a lot more families compared to the Midtown caf\u00e9, especially on weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n Let the beans talk<\/p>\n That has pushed Casey Albert, the more introverted of the ownership couple, into an ambassador role. He implores guests, many of whom don\u2019t plan on drinking caffeine after 11 a.m., to try Anchor & Tree\u2019s coffee and to try it black.<\/p>\n Donovan Albert sources beans via distributor Ally Coffee<\/a> from farms with recommended labor and environmental practices. He and Casey then visit those farms on one origin trip per year, most recently going to Colombia.<\/p>\n They roast the beans in 6-pound batches, considerably smaller than most commercial roasters, using an electric roaster from Berkeley-based Bellwether Coffee<\/a>. Each machine produces 87% fewer carbon emissions than a traditional gas roaster, Bellwether claims, and allows for more precise heat application throughout the drum, Casey Albert said, avoiding \u201chot spots.\u201d<\/p>\n Many customers accustomed to dark roasts want cream and sugar to offset their bitterness. But when applied to lighter brews, they can drown out subtle flavors such as pineapple, plum and nougat, Albert said. <\/p>\n Even Anchor & Tree\u2019s syrupy espresso drinks stop short of, say, Dutch Bros Coffee<\/a> levels. In drinks such as the salted pistachio caramel latte or vanilla latte with bourbon-infused maple syrup, those sweeteners are measured in grams, not pumps. The sweetest of the bunch is the cinnamon vanilla mocha, though baristas can add more sugar to any drink upon request.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes coffee more of an experience. It makes each cup more distinctive and allows you to see \u2018What is a light roast bean? What is a medium roast bean? And what does it mean for a bean to be washed?’\u201d Albert said. \u201cThere\u2019s so much distinction between beans and regions, and you don\u2019t get that when you\u2019re loading it with cream and sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n Nights at the museum<\/p>\n The Crocker Art Museum has cycled through several caf\u00e9 tenants since launching with Mulvaney\u2019s B&L<\/a> in 2010. It was closed from March 2020 through October 2023, when Majka Pizzeria & Bakery\u2019s<\/a> owners took over the space.<\/p>\n They were there until December 2024, according to Crocker director of marketing and communications Kat Haro. Then Anchor & Tree moved in, first as a pop-up before claiming a more permanent residency.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Anchor and Tree, we found a compatible partner with a mutual desire and commitment to providing excellent service to our visitors,\u201d Haro wrote in an email. \u201cWhat started as a short-term pop-up coffee shop has since turned into lunch service with both hot and grab & go options, and we look forward to strengthening this partnership in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Anchor & Tree now anchors the museum\u2019s food program, from daytime visitors to after-dark events. During jazz nights, classical concerts or ArtMix<\/a>, the museum\u2019s popular monthly series, the cafe\u2019s pizza oven keeps firing square pies.<\/p>\n For the Alberts, frequent visitors of the Crocker even before the working relationship, being part of the Western U.S.\u2019 oldest art museum is worth the occasional late hours.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love the Crocker\u2019s mission. It\u2019s an amazing, world-class museum. I think it\u2019s right up there with a lot of the top museums in a lot bigger cities than Sacramento,\u201d Albert said. \u201cWhat an awesome way to not only partner with a great organization and support their mission, but also be able to showcase our brand in front of a new set of customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Anchor & Tree in the Crocker Art Museum<\/p>\n Address:\u00a0216 O St., Sacramento<\/p>\n Phone:\u00a0916-808-7000<\/p>\n Hours:\u00a010 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday<\/p>\n Website:\u00a0anchorandtree.com<\/a><\/p>\n Vegetarian\/vegan options:\u00a0More than half the menu is meatless, including a pesto breakfast sandwich, cheesy Cubist pizza squares and a fresco caprese sandwich.<\/p>\n Drinks:\u00a0Environmentally conscious craft coffee program, plus Pressed Juicery<\/a> juices, tea from Folsom-based K&K Chai<\/a>, kava and kombucha.<\/p>\n Reservations:\u00a0None<\/p>\n Benjy Egel\u00a0is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged\u2019s weekly\u00a0food and drink newsletter,\u00a0City of Treats.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: Midtown Sacramento-based Anchor & Tree Coffee Roasting Co. recently opened a second location inside the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-305938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"restaurant\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC07072-1024x665.jpg.webp.webp\")
Anchor & Tree inside the Crocker Art Museum. (Cameron Clark)<\/p>\n![\"restaurant\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC07093-1024x560.jpg.webp.webp\")
Anchor & Tree\u2019s banh Monet at the Crocker Art Museum. (Cameron Clark)<\/p>\n![\"restaurant\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC07024-1024x819.jpg.webp.webp\")
Even Anchor & Tree\u2019s coffee drinks aren\u2019t too sweet, owner Casey Albert said. (Cameron Clark)<\/p>\n