News today from the Puget Sound massif, as South Sound roaster-retailer heroes Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. have signed a lease to open their first coffee bar in the city of Seattle, Washington.
Speaking exclusively to Sprudge, Olympia Coffee Co-Owner & Green Buyer Oliver Stormshak confirmed the impending opening, happening at 3840 California Ave in West Seattle (corner of California & Bradford). Plans call for a cozy new cafe—600 sq. feet—located between the Junction and Admiral neighborhoods in West Seattle, occupying street level retail in the Rally live / work complex, currently finishing construction.
Target opening day is October 1st, 2017, says Stormshak—“We’ve given ourselves a lot more time than we usually do,” he tells Sprudge. Olympia Coffee will partner with the custom design firm Artisans Group to construct the project, having worked previously with AG designer Roussa Cassel on their Capitol cafe and Cherry Street cafe and headquarters in Olympia. Artisans Group focuses on the “passive house” design movement, and they’ll bring that outlook to work on this project at the LEED certified Rally space, Stormshak tells Sprudge.
It’s early days for gear planning, but Stormshak is predicting efficiency as a focus for the small space, with espresso machines by La Marzocco, batch brew by FETCO, and then individual pour-over service by the cup for those with a bit more time to linger—a focus at Olympia’s cafes.
This is both expansion and homecoming for Olympia Coffee, whose Co-Owner and Director of Training and Education Sam Schroeder (a lauded barista competitor) is a West Seattle native. Thirsty Seattleites can enjoy Olympia Coffee already in Fremont at Vif Coffee | Wine, on Capitol Hill at Analog Coffee, and at Canlis, the Burien Press, and projects by Heavy Restaurant Group, but this will be their first cafe north of Thurston County. “We’ve looked at other regions: Salt Lake City, Miami, places where we might have an impact,” says Stormshak, “but we’re Northwesterners. We grew up here, we’re attached to this region, and we think there’s potential for doing amazing coffee in this community. Seattle feels like coming home.”
Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.
Photos courtesy of Rally and Olympia Coffee Roasting Company.
