Vivace's owner, David Schomer, [2][3] is credited with developing and popularizing latte art in the United States.

[4] Espresso Vivace was founded in 1988 by former Boeing engineer David C. Schomer and Digital Equipment Corporation mainframe technician Geneva Sullivan, who were married at that time.

[4][5] Espresso Vivaces's first incarnation was a coffee cart at 5th and Union, serving mainly financial industry workers, whom Schomer says did not consistently frequent the same cafes or pay close attention to quality.

[6] To make way for the Capitol Hill light rail station they were forced to move, choosing a new location five blocks north, near "high-end housing."

Here Espresso Vivace found customers who Schomer said were more able to appreciate gourmet coffee as an art form, and who generally became "rabidly loyal" to their favorite haunts.