From Starbucks drive-thrus to America’s first James Beard Award-nominated coffee professional, Los Angeles is not a city that’s remotely lacking in coffee culture. By some metrics, the massive region’s morning obsession <a href="https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2023-02-23/why-los-angeles-is-the-best-coffee-city-in-the-world” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>puts it up there with the best coffee cities in the world.
And that’s exactly what a fast-growing New York City-based coffee brand is banking on.
Blank Street, the venture capital-backed coffee chain that launched as a cart in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2020 and has seen astronomical growth over the past six years, opened its first California location in Studio City on Aug. 12.
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Founded by former tech entrepreneurs Issam Freiha and Vinay Menda, Blank Street raised $67 million in VC funding from Left Lane Capital, General Catalyst and Tiger Global in 2021, which helped it expand to more than 100 locations worldwide over the past six years. New York City alone has more than 35 outposts.
Blank Street’s shops are known for their sleek mint green interiors, small footprints and automated Swiss machines that pump out specialty drinks in much less time than traditional pour-over spots. (The machines are able to make up to 700 espresso shots per hour.) By having minuscule spaces, as well as employing fewer team members, Blank Street is able to serve its drinks at lower prices.
“I’ve been a coffee nerd for 15 years,” Freiha told Forbes in 2023. “… It came super natural to me to want to look at something within the coffee space. It’s been dominated by incumbents for the last 50 years. We were thinking about the mission from day one: Let’s figure out how to do high quality, specialty, third-wave coffee at a way more affordable price globally.”
The Studio City location’s design takes cues from LA’s iconic midcentury Case Study houses. In addition to serving Blank Street’s signature coffee and matcha drinks, the brand introduced a Cortado Cloud drink, anointed with a vanilla-scented sweet cream cloud, that’s exclusive to Studio City. Later this year, the brand also plans to introduce ice cream, a collaboration with Zen Ong of popular Indonesian-inspired local ice cream mini-chain Awan.
“Studio City felt right for our California debut,” Freiha said in a news release. “Beyond the neighborhood’s charm and storied history, it has the creative spirit and strong sense of community that matters so much to us. There’s also something special about opening here with Evan [Mateen], one of our earliest team members, who grew up nearby. That personal connection makes this launch feel like a true homecoming for us.”
For some, Blank Street’s arrival is a welcome addition to Southern California, and another example of a popular New York City foodstuff making its way west. Those with a more critical eye see Blank Street as part of a wave of private equity and venture capital-backed foods that pander, branding-wise, to a narrow, upwardly mobile economic demographic while squeezing out independently owned local operators.
Studio City, a haven for young, wealthy LA families, is already flush with coffee shops and cafes, including local favorites like Civil Coffee and growing chain Alfred. Despite the density, Blank Street is banking on its name and ubiquitous TikTok presence to keep it front and center for Angelenos.
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Blank Street has other plans beyond the Valley too: A Beverly Hills location is imminent, and the brand has signed a lease on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, which has recently seen a spate of exciting new restaurant openings.
Blank Street, 13273 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Open daily, 7 a.m.-5 p.m.
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