The term ‘applied arts’ refers to the use of design to make everyday items more functional or beautiful, and Applied Arts Coffee is doing the same thing, but to the humble coffee bean. The local coffee company is set to showcase its artisanal roasts later this summer when it opens the doors on a café at 612 Piety St. in the Bywater.
Co-owner and local chef Baruch Rabasa has a long and deep history with coffee, including a family-owned coffee farm in Colombia. He also studied coffee cultivation and roasting while living with his partner in Portland, Ore. Rabasa recently talked to What Now New Orleans about the idea of coffee as more than just a source of caffeine or vehicle for rich additives.
“Coffee is an affordable luxury,” he said. “It’s seen as this item that you consume in the morning to get you going. While it’s getting more attention right now, our idea is to turn this everyday object beautiful.”
When Rabasa and local chef Melissa Stewart started developing Applied Arts, they thought Rabasa’s family farm would be big enough to do a farm-to-cup operation. They soon learned that it wasn’t big enough for their vision, so they started looking at importing coffee beans.
“After we realized the coffee wasn’t just going to be from the farm, I wanted to try to have a niche, with coffees from the Americas,” Rabasa said. “But when we did a cupping with beans from Ethiopia, I was like, Nope, we’re doing coffee from the whole world.”
The new cafe will be a coffee emporium, with coffee flights and occasional cupping events. Rabasa said the focus will be on spotlighting the different beans, as opposed to conventional cafe drinks that include a lot of milk and sugar. The cafe will also have a food menu anchored by Scandinavian open-faced sandwiches called smørrebrød (“smore-bro”), which is a hat tip to Stewart’s Norwegian roots. These dishes will feature salmon, herring, and various Gulf fish. There will also be an elevated take on Continental breakfast, with breads, meats, cheeses, and fruit jams.
But there will also be cookies and classic cafe pastries available. Rabasa said it’s important for the café to be approachable, maybe even a little irreverent, as evidenced by the serving of a Continental breakfast: an American budget hotel cliché getting the applied arts treatment.
“We’re trying to keep it fun and not too serious, but also serious at the same time,” Rabasa said. “The energy is a little inspired by the Momofuku kind of vibe: excellent execution and products, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
