The Concierge Coffee location in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. All images courtesy of Concierge Coffee.
A neighborhood coffee shop and roasting business in Berlin, Germany, called Concierge Coffee has taken a big step across the pond with its third retail cafe, now open in Los Angeles.
The first United States location of the small business reflects a passion for unadulterated, high-quality coffee through an embrace of simple, natural materials and strong shapes through the space.
The high ceiling is stripped back to expose wooden rafters connecting sand-colored walls, while a central table made of stone cubes is topped with clear glass. Stump-like cylindrical natural wood stools are scattered around the space like trees in a forest.
Concierge Coffee Co-Founder and Head Roaster Benjamin Pates told Daily Coffee News that he and Co-Founder/Creative Director Namdar Nosratifard took inspiration from materials of timeless integrity.
“A lot of the inspiration is simply outdoors landscapes, whether it’s desert or forest or anything,” Pates told DCN. “Materials that age well.”
Within this setting, the baristas are tasked with creating a warm and inviting environment.
“We are very strong in terms of opinion about coffee equipment and how to serve coffee and aesthetics and all of this, but at the end of the day, we really care about service and pleasing people,” Pates said. “It’s not for us to have a nice magazine showroom shop. It’s a place where people come and buy nice coffee.”
The approximately 900-square-foot downtown Arts District cafe is Concierge’s largest to date. While reflecting a spirit of service and accommodation, the name of the business also has literal associations.
In Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood, the original Concierge coffee shop sits within a 150-square-foot former concierge lobby of an apartment building alongside the Landwehr Canal. Concierge Coffee’s second shop occupies about 750 square feet in the Schöneberg neighborhood.
In Germany, Pates helmed a restored vintage Probat L12. In the U.S., Pates roasts on the Probat UG22 at the Los Angeles location of co-roasting provider Pulley Collective.
The transition has been made easier since Pates can source green coffees through some of the companies he leaned on in Berlin, including Minneapolis-based Cafe Imports, which has warehousing in Hamburg, and German importer List + Beisler, which has warehousing in California.
“I roast everything myself, and a lot of the importers I’m working with are the same importers as in Berlin, which is convenient because I’m not totally starting from scratch,” said Pates. “It’s just kind of a small world when you’re shipping globally, in that sense.”
The Concierge Coffee roastery in Berlin.
The decision to move overseas was made for “personal and cultural” reasons, Pates said, including Nosratifard’s desire to fulfill a a longtime dream of living in LA.
While the Concierge Coffee staff keeps operations afloat in Germany, Pates is currently exploring expanding stateside, with more potential shops in Los Angeles and a growing roasting operation.
“Berlin is a really fun and exciting place to be when you’re young, but we grew up. The city has changed a lot,” said Pates. “It has a really thriving coffee scene, but it just lacks a certain excitement for us that I think the U.S. holds. It’s ironic, because I think having spent a lot of time in Europe, we appreciate the opportunity in the market here. As competitive as it is, it just feels a lot more vibrant somehow.”
Concierge Coffee is located at 821 Traction Ave. in Los Angeles. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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