Toย Arion Paylo, Blue Bottleโs director of design and development, the company’s new cafe in San Francisco’s South Park neighborhoodย is a standout. โItโs a beautiful building,โ heย says, โthat we donโt really have to mess with that much. Thereโs a lot of texture and history, and it gives us the chance to really let the building shine.โ
When looking at any new potential Blue Bottle space, Paylo saysย his team focuses on three main things: what the space offers, what needs to be taken away, and what they can add to define it as a Blue Bottle experience. As Paylo says, โWe donโt have a book of prescribed design for every shop. Itโs more about: What is this space telling us? What can we do with this?โ The answers are, invariably, different every time. โWe get to look at these spaces uniquely,โ he says, โand react to them. Itโs the fun side of itโwe have an opportunity to do something new and special that resonates with customers.โย
For theย South Park cafe, Paylo worked with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson architectsโthe minds behind the Emeryville Pixar campus, to name just one โย to highlight the existing structure, the goal being to leave the original space as โuntouched as possible.โ The coffee bar sports minimalist touchesโincluding an undercounter Mavam Espresso machine and Blue Bottle drippersโall beneath soaring, enormous exposed beams, their surfaces rough and pitted. Paylo believes they were chopped from the masts of decommissioned ships. โThe building itself gives all the texture to us,โ heย says. โWe didnโt have to do a heck of a lot to express what we love about design while still retaining a warmth and humanity in the space.โ
Blue Bottle South Parkโs most interesting feature is the Cold Bar, anย upscale take on iced coffee cocktails. James Freeman, the companyโs founder, offers a simple explanation for the concept: โItโs a fun thing to do. Thereโs nothing wrong with that.โ Blue Bottle employees from around the world submitted recipes, which were prepared and sampled in hourslong tasting sessions. One even called for ice cream made from scratch from an employeeโs own recipe. โIt was,โ Freeman says, โa monumental success.โ While Freeman recognizes that die-hard coffee purists might balk at the Cold Bar, he’s not bothered. โObviously, a shakerato is not exactly the purest expression of coffee. Itโs fun and itโs accessible, and the integrity comes in examining the ingredients, making something really interesting.โ
Which speaks to the Blue Bottle philosophy as a whole: to continue to innovate and expand while maintaining a level of qualityย in everything, from building out a new space or debuting an iced coffee beverage program. As Freeman says, โIf we were really dour and overly focused on [someone else’s]ย notion of integrity, we wouldnโt even make lattes. We would not be the kind of company we are today.โ
Noah Sandersย (@sandersnoah) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in San Francisco, and a contributor to SF Weekly, Side One Track One, andย The Bold Italic. Read moreย Noah Sanders on Sprudge.
Photos courtesy ofย Ryley Johnson.