When Alfred Peet moved to America after World War II, he was horrified by what passed for coffee in his new country. Thus, the Holland expat did what anyone who grew up in the coffee industry would do—he opened up his own coffeeshop, Peet's Coffee & Tea, in Berkeley, California, in 1966.

Peet's fresh beans roasted in small batches and rich, complex dark roasts soon attracted coffee enthusiasts in droves. With the coffee lovers came artisan-food crafters and with them, the people who were likely some of the world's first foodies. The area soon became known as "The Gourmet Ghetto," and the artisan-coffee movement took off faster than Clark Kent when he sees a sale on glasses.