A Japanese coffee chain known for its intricate latte art is opening its first U.S. location at the restored Colby Abbot building in downtown Milwaukee.
Streamer Coffee Company, with 19 locations in Japan, will open its doors in Milwaukee later this year. David Powroznik, owner of the downtown location, located at 325 East Mason St., told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he hopes to open in October, if everything goes to plan.
Powroznik said customers should expect a “minimalist feel that is designed into the flow of the coffee shop,” replicating the stores in Japan. The shop will have highly trained baristas, an open design and over 90 seats for customers to study, hang out or meet in groups.
Streamer Coffee Company’s first location in the U.S. will be located inside the Colby Abbot building, 325 East Mason St. It is currently under construction and will open later this year.
“It’s an experience… a very laid-back setting,” Powroznik said. “You’ll get a real Japanese feeling when you walk into the location.”
Streamer Coffee Company, founded by Terutaka Yamaji, opened its first store in 2010 in Shibuya. It quickly rose to fame for its intricate latte art designed by head barista Hiroshi Sawada, who won the 2008 World Latte Art Championship in Seattle.
Streamer Coffee will take the place of XO Cocktail Parlor, five years after a fire damaged damaged several parts of the Colby Abbot building. Now fully restored, the five-story building also hosts office spaces and restaurants.
Powroznik said the building’s location takes into account the growth of residential buildings and businesses in Milwaukee’s downtown. He said talks about bringing the coffee shop to the city have been going on for years, but became serious about two years ago.
“Why does everyone go to LA or New York? Milwaukee is an up-and-coming city and we fell in love with it over the last four or five years,” Powroznik said, explaining the decision to place the coffee shop in Milwaukee.
Powroznik, who spent years living in Japan as a football coach, noted many similarities to the values of the people in Japan and Milwaukee. He especially noticed this last year when the Los Angeles Dodgers visited to play the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship.
Japanese reporters who followed Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto during the series were promoting Milwaukee throughout Japan in their articles, Powroznik said, adding the people in Japan “just loved Milwaukee.”
“Japan as a society, it’s all relationship driven,” Powroznik said. “It’s building trust and that’s what people felt here in Milwaukee.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Popular Japanese coffee shop coming to Milwaukee