Everyman for Himself

Meet two New Yorkers named Sam with a plan to radically alter your coffeehouse experience.

Photos by Sophie Butcher

The menu in the window is the first thing to tip you off. A menu in the window of a coffee shop? Yes, just like in a restaurant.

Open the door. You’re immediately greeted by the smiling face of a barista, eye contact pulling you in like a tractor beam. Inside you’ll find the space modest, a sliver of real estate really. But a clever design makes up for the lack of square footage.

The bar lies low, just below hip level, free-floating and open on all sides. Few barriers, if any, have been erected between barista and customer. As there’s no “pick up” point, there’s no need to wait around after ordering. You can take a seat. Drinks are often walked over and served.

The color palate: warm. No self-serious monochrome, no “design blog” aesthetic, no cheesy bric-a-brac, very few industrial fixtures – the sink came from a Park Slope brownstone kitchen and weighs more than the espresso machine – and no overhead menu board, the result of which (the theory goes) leads to more…