Lots of Dreams
Nearly everywhere you look today two brand names are lashed together by the stylish little “×”. It’s supposed to signal partnership, a promise that something new will be born where those strokes cross. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s just ink.
I’ve come to believe that real collaborations, the ones that matter, start long before any press release. They appear at the back of the mind like a shape in fog, gathering detail so slowly you’re not sure when it first arrived.
The Good Life
One question that comes up—both from other people and from myself—when planning this countryside coffee concept in France is: Why do this?
I could just keep doing what I’m doing. Roasting, tasting, testing, training. I love the craft, and I love the community I’ve found through my work.
But when you live your days chasing new projects, watching the industry shift around you, a restlessness can creep in.
Worth the Wait
When people come to visit us—even if we’re only a short train ride from Paris—it will still be a bit of a journey. Most will come for the coffee. But at some point during their visit, they’ll be hungry. And there’s the rub.
We’re not interested in serving industrial pastries made elsewhere. Everything we offer, we want to make ourselves. That choice carries consequences—not just what we serve and why, but how. Without a service staff—or potentially any staff at all—how do we design a food workflow that feels just as intentional as our approach to coffee?
Digging Deeper
When I was little, maybe six or eight, we lived in a modest suburban house with a backyard that felt impossibly large. Huge trees lined either side, and the far end touched the land of a local animal doctor, so occasionally a lost duckling would wander up to our door.
It was there, with my mom, that I first began gardening.
Shouts & Murmurs
Unnoticed by some, but constantly impacting the experience for everyone. One’s willingness to stay, to relax, to enjoy. Noise.
The two girls laughing and practically shouting at each other from just across the table in an attempt to tell a personal story which unfolds inevitably to the displeasure of the entire room. Crashing dishes which momentarily cut the hearing out of one of your ears.
As someone who has worked behind the counter but is also continually a client in many different coffee shops—noise is something that consistently has an enormous impact on my experience.
Made by Hand
This is a project I want to build slowly. To spend years refining and growing. To make something that carries the best of what I’ve learned—and everything I still want to explore.
I’ve drawn since I could hold a pencil. Studied fine art. Worked as a graphic designer. I’ve been a florist, delivering bouquets by bicycle. A shoemaker, sewing one-off bags and stockings from scraps. I’ve made jam from family recipes and inherited a cookie recipe laser-etched onto a cutting board in my mother’s handwriting.
And coffee…
Lay of the Land
For those unfamiliar with Paris—or with how the city fits into the wider map of France—it helps to know about our layered public transit system, which is constantly being remodeled and expanded. The three main layers of rail travel here are the Paris Metro, the TER, and the TGV.
The Metro is without question the most iconic. Just saying the name conjures images of white-tiled tunnels with arched ads, and well-worn subway cars rattling through the dark while the Eiffel Tower’s spotlight swings its nightly arc over the city, keeping watch.
But the layer I want to focus on here is the TER—Transport Express Régional…
Mixing It Up
Blending remains taboo in specialty coffee.
Say the word and you can feel the room stiffen—how dare you muddy a prized geisha with something else? For years, we've celebrated purity: single origins, single varietals, singular stories. But as I cup hundreds of coffees each season, I find myself wondering... what if we’ve misunderstood the true potential of the cup? What if we stopped treating coffee like a solo act—and started treating it like a canvas?
A Pallet and a Plan
Our project may still be on paper, but it’s important to go through what a typical day could look like. This will give us a clearer picture, help us to avoid potential problems, and see aspects of it that we hadn’t yet considered.
Coffee delivery day. The truck pulls up.
“Bonjour monsieur, vous allez bien?”
The driver waves as we unload sacks of green coffee, the smell of jute mingling with damp stone and the hum of our little electric mini-truck. It’s a bit beat-up but it gets the job done.
This is how it starts. Not with fanfare, but with a pallet and a plan.
Art Repeats
As tools become more precise—roasting machines that hear first crack before we do, pour-over machines that mimic expert hands—we find ourselves asking: does precision diminish the craft? If the machine can do it, what’s left for the artisan?