The simple cup of joe my grandfather once enjoyed at the local family-owned diner gave way to my father’s Starbucks venti dark brew, a nominally Italian cup of corporatization. The millennial wave of boutique cafés would be inscrutable to them both, as the hues of shop interiors lightened alongside the color of roasts, blond wood and beans sweeping uniformly across the planet.
% Arabica, a specialty chain hailing from Japan, has so far avoided the fate of Blue Bottle, La Colombe, or Stumptown—former artisan roasters that now firmly reside in the portfolios of multinational conglomerates. Since its founding in the twilight of the Obama years, % Arabica has charted rapid expansion in markets from Kuwait to Canada; the first US outpost landed in 2021 in Dumbo, Brooklyn, as Joe Biden ambled into office. In contrast to the (at least implicit) variety of its geographical spread, the company has hewed to a thin, Dezeen-baiting brand of minimalism.
Its latest New York location, located opposite the Museum of Modern Art’s staff entrance, is made from stronger stuff. White w…
