Exchange that coffee cup for a beaker, because there’s some science brewing northeast of campus.
The Brew Spot Café, located at 1000 NE 16th Ave., is a trendy bistro that serves up chemistry study sessions along with baked breads, pastries and coffees.
Jeff Keaffaber, co-owner of the cafe, currently offers free help for general and organic chemistry students several times at the bistro. However, Keaffaber, who is also a professor in UF’s Department of Chemistry, is retiring at the end of this semester and will continue teaching as well as operating the cafe full time.
“I’ve always wanted to celebrate the culinary arts,” he said. “This is a transition to the next project in my life.”
Keaffaber will begin charging for sessions this summer. Each session will cost about $15, and students will receive a $5 food coupon with every session. He said the sessions are also open to Santa Fe College and local high school students.
“It doesn’t really matter what level you’re at in those courses,” he said. “There’s going to be something for everyone.”
Keaffaber has a background in entertainment and engineering. He worked with Walt Disney Imagineering for six years. He said he used his experience with Disney to design his cafe, which includes an open-air kitchen, a 250-gallon fish tank and a 1,200-square-foot classroom with chalkboard-painted walls.
Keaffaber said an average session will consist of five to 15 students.
“The idea is to create a community of learners in a small setting,” he said.
Keaffaber said the sessions are not instructor specific but rather a general lesson on chemistry.
“It’s all about the students,” he said. “I’d like to use what I’ve used over the years in teaching to give students a different insight into the science.”
Ryan Wood, a 26-year-old UF chemistry graduate student, said he has gotten to know Keaffaber after working as his teaching assistant last year. Wood said he studies at the cafe twice week.
“I’m usually coming for the food,” he said.
He likes the food so much that one of the cooks made him his own special, The Wood Dog: a hotdog topped with onions, peppers and cheese and a side of potatoes.
Keaffaber sees results in the students that receive his help.
“I benefit from seeing them be successful,” he said.
