Handsome Coffee – Bar and Roasting Works

Handsome Coffee Roasters has been in the artisan coffee game for almost a year, but just this week opened their combination roasting facility and cafe in Los Angeles’ Arts District. The handsome trio behind the buzz—Tyler Wells, Michael Phillips and Chris Owens—left lofty posts at Intelligentsia to start Handsome and their new space is evidence of a profound commitment to the bean.

Handsome worked with WoodSmithe (which has worked with clients ranging from Levis and Converse to Native Son) on construction of the facility, where a 13-foot glass and metal wall gives patrons in the open and minimal cafe a full view of the roasting works. This is the anti-Starbucks in many respects: there’s no wi-fi, no pumps of syrup and no charitable bottled water—just coffee, organic whole milk, a slim menu of beverages and a selection of pastries from Proof Bakery. Handsome also has a small walk-up coffee bar opening shortly at Demi Monde, a cocktail lounge near Wall Street in New York, if you’re on the opposite coast. As for the coffee, it is damn good.