From L to R: Liz and Melanie Diamond-Manlusoc, Maggie Lee
The idea for Flow State CoffeeBar was born in January 2015 in another coffee shop: La Colombe’s flagship location on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown. Three friends, Melanie and Liz Diamond-Manlusoc and Maggie Lee, were enjoying a mellow morning before the Diamond-Manlusocs traveled back to Chicago. The couple was wrapping up a visit to see Lee, who’d moved back to her hometown of Philadelphia in 2011 after living in Chicago for eight years, where the three had initially met. Sitting in La Colombe, they began talking about all the things they did and didn’t like about the various cafes they’d been to.
Melanie—a classically trained pastry chef who’d spent many years working in big, hierarchical restaurant kitchens—blurted out, “Let’s open a place!” and, excited by the prospect, the trio spent the next few hours hashing out and sketching a plan of what they wanted their theoretical cafe to look like.
They decided that they’d combine a coffeeshop concept with a coworking space, to create the kind of place that felt welcome to telecommuters, students and neighbors alike; a place where there was no pressure to keep buying things to justify hanging out all day; a place that offered various seating configurations, plentiful outlets and lots of food options to keep folks nourished and comfortable for hours at a time.
“We wanted to stay with what we know,” Lee says. “Melanie knows pastries and gelato, and Liz and I, who both currently telecommute, know coworking. We all like coffee, and I know Philly.”
That first conversation turned into a series of meetings. Over the next two years, the three gathered once a week via Facetime or Google Hangouts to iron out details. The Diamond-Manlusocs made more trips from Chicago to Philly to continue fleshing their vision out, finally making the permanent move in 2016. They settled on a storefront on Frankford Avenue, right where Fishtown turns into Kensington. They’d originally considered opening in another neighborhood, but they all live in the area, and owning a shop close to home felt important to them. Plus, as Lee says, “Kensington seems to have the right temperament at the right time” to welcome their concept.
Last year, under the name Flow State CoffeeBar, they hosted a few different fundraisers to raise startup capital and to show off the pastries and gelato that Flow State customers will one day be able to enjoy.
The interior of Flow State CoffeeBar pre-buildout
Now, plans are rapidly in motion, and the Flow State CoffeeBar is slated to open later this fall. The menu will feature Square One Coffee, housemade pastries (including Filipino desserts, which speak to Melanie’s cultural background), six rotating flavors of gelato and light lunch fare, like salads and paninis. Melanie, who, working as a restaurant chef, was tired of being told what to do, says she’ll follow her whims with the primary focus on quality. “There’s too much ‘pretty good’ everywhere,” she says. “I’d rather have a small menu with everything being delicious and the coffee on point.”
When asked what her favorite of Melanie’s gelato flavors are, Liz stalls. “Lavender … and the spicy ‘better than chocolate’ … and corn!” she says. “It’s so hard for me to choose!” Lee says the mango togarashi sorbetto (one of the many dairy-free options that will complement the gelato) is her favorite.
With the coworking crowd in mind, there will be a focus on bar seating (to avoid that pesky situation of one person taking up an entire table) with built-in little platforms to neatly fit a laptop and coffee and food in a small area and tables available for reservations, as well as membership packages featuring bottomless coffee and premium internet access for a set amount. They’re also exploring how to work in a few nooks or enclosed areas into the floor plan where customers can make or take business-related phone calls. A communal table, high-top bar/standing desk and other tables will round out the seating options.
As for Flow State’s aesthetic, the goal is to balance warmth and color with a non-distracting simplicity, with a conscientious effort to stay away from the hyper-industrial look of so many modern coffee shops. They’ve hired artist Gabe Felice to paint a mural all along the right-hand wall of the shop, and will base other design and color choices off of his work, which is often colorful and bright.
Of the shop’s look and feel, Melanie says they want to capture the essence of what “flow state” means to them. “We want to set the tone in the space that helps people get into their zone, into their creativity. That’s one of the joys of being alive, that feeling of losing yourself in something.”
When Flow State CoffeeBar opens, it will just be the three owners working, so they plan to start smart and small. But they have plenty of plans for growth and expansion. In the next few years, they hope to obtain a liquor license and offer beer and fried snacks (and skeeball machines!) for nightlife vibes. The ladies also have plans to transform the basement into even more coworking spaces, with different membership packages on offer.
For now, they’re focusing on getting the doors of the shop open. Keep an eye on Flow State’s Instagram and Facebook pages for more info about a grand opening date!
Flow State CoffeeBar will be located at 2413 Frankford Ave. in Philadelphia.
- Feature photo & trike photo: Ryan Young
- Sign & interior phots: Emily Kovach
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