Espresso with a Side of California Sunshine at Love Coffee Bar

Love Coffee Bar Facebook photo.

With a name comprising three of humankind’s most treasured words, Love Coffee Bar

has soft-opened in Santa Monica between 17th and 18th Streets on Ocean Blvd.

The quaint, modest bar with a quintessentially Californian laid-back vibe is actually a project of Love Observed, a branding and design studio founded by Kambiz Hemati, and it follows the firm’s creative ethos:

Ideation to execution, our aim is to design new concepts, create amazing experiences, build great environments, and bring ideas to life. Through a network of associates — from artists, digital & social media experts, lighting designers, craftsmen to builders — we seek the next creative challenge.

For its opening, the bar is serving coffees from local roasters Copa Vida (Pasadena) and Rose Park Coffee Roasters

(Long Beach), with a focus on espresso drinks, and baked goods from 3 Square Café (Venice).

L.A.-based photographer Amparo Rios recently stopped into the new space, which is a work in progress, capturing these photos: