A new neighborhood café from the team behind the Tastemaker Award-nominated The Newstand will soon be hot off the presses. The Dispatch, the latest project from entrepreneur Dez Rodriguez and chef Page Pressley, opens April 14 inside McCombs Plaza at 755 E. Mulberry Ave.

The café was inspired by the idea of newspaper dispatches, new briefs meant to give a sense of place from the immediacy of boots-on-the-ground reporting. The small shop will continue The Newstand's commitment to local and carefully sourced ingredients.

"A key point is [that] The Dispatch's menu has an increased focus on seasonality and sourcing unique local and regional ingredients that may have a shorter season, as well as a daily rotating variety of unique and rare single-origin coffees," shared Pressley via a previous email. "This will allow the guest to always be able to experience a new offering should they choose."

Mainstay bites include house-made pastries like red-eye coffee cake, banana matcha muffins, and an of-the-moment Basque cheesecake. Salads run the gamut from a protein bowl to a chopped farm salad to a kale fruit salad made with spiced citrus Texas pecans, puffed rice, and goat cheese.

A pink La Marzocco expresso machine gives the interior some spice.Photo by Alejandro DeLeon

Still, the drinks will take up most of the masthead. The farm-fresh menu features Just Peachy, a high-grade matcha sipper with local peaches and topped with vanilla bean cold foam, and Texas Sun, an orange, ginger, and pineapple juice blend with habanero.

The smoothies will be just as complex, with offerings such as the Empire, made with peach, apple, almond butter, spinach, and chlorophyll. All can be enhanced by wellness add-ons like lion’s mane mushroom, ashwagandha (a North African shrub), or creatine.

The juices may be vibrant, but the quietly elegant decor will provide an escape for midtown workers or students from the nearby University of Texas San Antonio campus. The lobby café is outfitted with green marble countertops and terracotta tile, offset by a quiet palette of muted earth tones and rich woods.

Guests can linger on lounge seating in The Dispatch or McCombs lobby, or break out the laptop for a quick power lunch at a 10-seat community table. The spot will also have outdoor seating when the weather permits.

Following its April 14 debut, the Dispatch will be open Monday through Saturday, 7 am-5 pm.