High-quality coffee for the connoisseur, roasted with more than 80 years of expertise. Our mission is clear: to roast and compose the best coffee possible. We have been doing this since 1937. We are committed to constantly creating perfect flavors and aromas.
Go with the slow
In this fast-paced world we live in, people rarely take the time to form or maintain real relationships. Often we settle for fleeting and superficial contact, hiding behind our mobile phones or digital screens. At Mokabon we believe in taking time for each other. Social contact is central here, just like in the old brown pub, but for coffee.
Atmospheric & Intimate
Mokabon is Italian for good coffee. We not only serve guests the best Italian coffee, but offer a completely authentic experience. In an atmospheric and intimate environment, guests can enjoy freshly ground coffee, tea or other drinks. The service is personal, warm and hospitable so that you as a guest can enjoy our products carefree.
Social contact is central
Everyone is welcome here. As long as you accept that you have to share a table with others. The salon has 7 tables: five to sit down and taste and two higher tables to stand up for the quicker drinkers. But that's the beauty of it: when strangers spontaneously start a conversation, meet again next time and gradually form connections. Wifi is deliberately not offered because social contact is central here: it has always been that way and it must always remain that way.
1937
Start up Mokabon as a coffee roastery
Erminio Mazzaro moved away from Padua to Zelzate in the 1930s. There he met his wife Bertha Gauwe and they moved to the Donkersteeg in Ghent, where they started a coffee roasting company. He roasted the beans in the cellar, she sold the freshly roasted coffee beans on the ground floor
1951
The oldest coffee house in Ghent
In the 1950s, the taproom was also added, and that "Salon du Café" was an instant hit. The first Turkish and North African labor migrants also immediately felt welcome here. And that word mokabon? Shouldn't that be done with two k's? No, it's just a short Italian way of saying 'good coffee'. Did you know that there is also a Mokabon in Verona?
1964
Erminio Mazzaro develops his own espresso machine
Erminio soon noticed that the Belgians drank their coffee differently than the Italians. He conceived the plan to design a coffee machine himself, which would serve coffee according to the taste of his Belgian clientele. In Italy he set up a small coffee machine company, which he transferred to Destelbergen around the mid-1960s.
1991
Tom Duran takes over: Passion for the profession and an eye for detail
When Erminio reached retirement age, the children would normally continue the business in Donkersteeg. But they too felt the attraction of migrating and moved to the United States. The Mokabon came into the hands of new owner Tom Duran.
Tom lifted the coffee shop to a higher level because of his expertise and professional knowledge. He roasted his coffee blends fresh every week using the slow-roast method. Premium coffee beans carefully selected, roasted and tested, that was his motto.
2023
Generation change for the Mokabon
Grace Ishiekwene and Quentin Magnette took over the business from Christine Berth and Tom Duran in mid-January 2023. Grace is Christine's daughter and grew up above the Mokabon, so to speak. She has therefore played a lot in the business that her mother took over with Tom Duran in 1991. That she is the new face of the business and is therefore obvious. Meanwhile Quentin Magnette perfects himself as a coffee roaster under the watchful eye of Tom Duran.
Mokabon, Italian synonym for good coffee. We not only serve guests the best Italian coffee, but offer a completely authentic experience. In an atmospheric and intimate environment, guests can enjoy freshly ground coffee, tea or other drinks. The service is personal, warm and hospitable so that you as a guest can enjoy our products carefree.
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