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Caffs Not Cafes Finds the Magic in London’s Old School Joints
The Caff Is One of Britain’s Cultural Treasures – But if We Don’t Eat in Them, They’ll Disappear
Isaac Rangaswamitheguardian.comalexi gunner added
Too Many Places Are STERILE and TORCHED — Let’s Make Them COOL and FUNKY
Jonah & Erinblackbirdspyplane.comSam Liebeskind and added
You already know what the language of authenticity sounds like: “artisanship,” “craft,” “small-batch,” “single-lot,” and so on. Visually, authenticity signals are best demonstrated by New York City’s successful local chain The Meatball Shop, where antique meat grinders hang inside a faux-aged facade painted with mock-aged 1900s hand-lettered type.
subpixel space • After Authenticity
Gingham curtains line the windows, oxblood linoleum covers the floors, the rest is all laminate tables and beautifully brown fixed seating
Isaac Rangaswami • The Caff Is One of Britain’s Cultural Treasures – But if We Don’t Eat in Them, They’ll Disappear
alexi gunner added
It’s not that these generic cafes are part of global chains like Starbucks or Costa Coffee, with designs that spring from the same corporate cookie cutter. Rather, they have all independently decided to adopt the same faux-artisanal aesthetic. Digital platforms like Foursquare are producing "a harmonization of tastes" across the world, Schwarzmann ... See more
Kyle Chayka • How Silicon Valley helps spread the same sterile aesthetic across the world
sari and added
The coffee and tea (the “products” ostensibly sold here) are identical to that for sale at half the price across the street at the diner. But that’s okay, because no one is here for the product. We’re here for the story and the way believing it makes us feel.
Seth Godin • All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works--and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All
but one of the beautiful things about the old "kissaten," the cafes of pre-specialty-coffee Japan, is that they're often heavily customized by the owners, with Viennese lamps, or teddy bears, or Oscar Wilde-esque velvet everywhere. Blue Bottle's Nestle turn (the aesthetic aspects involving James Freeman's fondness for Apple Stores and Sha
... See moreBlackbird Spyplane • Too many places are STERILE and TORCHED — let’s make them COOL and FUNKY
alexi gunner added
They showcased trends in both beverages and food. They included a particular selection of music with soft ambient soundtracks, like lo-fi beats. Each café comprised a temple to all forms of contemporary taste—they were total works of art, to use Wagner’s term for a fully immersive aesthetic creation that engages every sense. Cafés turned out to be
... See more