Monday Coffee, an experiential coffee company, just opened its first cafe in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago on Nov. 9. Co-founders Amanda Christine Harth, who is the company’s CEO, and Felton Kizer, who is the head roaster, specialize in cold brew. They previously completed residencies at the Garfield Park Conservatory, SoHo House and Retreat at Currency Exchange Café by artist Theaster Gates. Monday Coffee co-founders and owners Amanda Christine Harth and Felton Kizer at their new North Lawndale business on 16th St. on Nov. 13, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Their debut cafe is located in a new building called Starling, designed as a “space for liberation,” according to its developers. When asked what may have emerged as an early staff or fan favorite, Harth had a surprising answer “I think, honestly, just us being here,” she said. “Just this cafe being open. Every day, people in the area are coming by and they’re like, ‘We’re so happy that y’all are here. We’re so happy that y’all are open.’” “I feel like the cafe is becoming a favorite for designers, photographers and TikTokers,” Harth said. “Because it is a beautiful space.” Jackie Rodriguez relaxes in the sun room at Monday Coffee inside the new Starling by Duo building on 16th St. in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, Nov. 13, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) What’s become their most popular coffee drink at the cafe so far? “The brown sugar cardamom,” Kizer said. “Our drink curator, Mia Simone, had this idea to add a different take on the whole pumpkin spice craze. Cardamom is still in the same family, so I was just like, ‘OK, cool, yeah, let’s do it.’” The drink starts, he said, with cardamom pods and brown sugar for a house-made syrup. “It was designed with our cold brew concentrate, in-house syrup and oat milk,” he added. “But now at the cafe, people can choose any milk of their choice, from oat, almond or whole.” You can also have it hot, with an espresso option, as a latte. But their signature coffee drink, the Good Day, has a curious origin story. “It was created in 2020 during the pop-ups in the summertime for people who didn’t drink coffee,” Kizer said. “We started selling cold brew, but people who didn’t really drink coffee wanted to support us, but they didn’t really know how to do that. And so I was like, well, I’ll create something that feels a bit more tea-like, but that is still coffee at its core.” That drink starts with real lavender flowers and cane sugar for another house-made syrup. The delicate floral flavor has endured since the earliest days of the experiential coffee company. “We were a pandemic project,” Harth said. They were actually playing around with the idea of opening a coffee company in 2019, she said, after their friends opened a roastery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Everything changed in 2020. “And then right when the protests and the riots and the uprising started to happen around that spring before the summer, we kind of realized people needed something to keep them going, but also connected,” Harth said. “And we wanted to contribute to moving things forward and contribute to the progress that was being made at that time. So coffee became this vehicle for community for us.” That October, they sold out of everything online and at their first pop-up. “That was the first time we started making money,” she said. “We were like, ‘Huh, well, you know, we’re doing something that we love to do, so maybe we can also make a living off of it.’” At the new cafe, they have pastries from West Town Bakery. “The herb goat cheese croissant has been popular with folks, and the red velvet doughnut,” Harth said. “And then, because Felton has a gluten allergy, we’ve been testing out some of their gluten-free options.” The blueberry muffin has been his top contender, he said, but he also liked the chocolate chip muffin. Exterior of Monday Coffee inside the new Starling by Duo building on 16th St. in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) But the space itself is such a statement. “The space is very art-driven, design-driven and open,” Harth said. “We’re coming into a neighborhood that has been historically disinvested and this new development was built from the ground up.” “So it’s a big deal,” she added. “And we don’t take it lightly that we’re servicing a community that really continues to be overlooked at times.” The cafe’s experience begins before arriving at the space. “Getting to the space, you physically see the disinvestment in North Lawndale,” Kizer said. Then you step inside an open oasis that smells like coffee. “But the beautiful thing about it is there are a lot of nooks and turns.” In one corner you’ll find his 30-year-old coffee bean roaster, he said, and then on the other side, there are books displayed like an art installation. For the serious coffee connoisseurs, he has a 1994 Probat L5 roaster and a Rancilio RS1 3 group espresso machine. And the neighbors are coming in. “They’re excited,” Kizer said. “This one guy who came in the other day was like, ‘Hey, I don’t drink coffee, but I’ll drink some lemonade. I lived here for 60 years, and I just never thought something like this would be in my neighborhood.’” It’s currently a passion fruit lemonade on the menu. “We are essentially a coffee company, and it’s our cafe,” Harth said about their Black-owned business. “But we also want to figure out different ways to continue to partner with people in the neighborhood to do different sorts of activations and events.” “Something that we’ve noticed is there are more people approaching us, asking how we’re able to make this happen, and how we’re able to open a cafe as small business owners,” she said. “So that’s, I think, the next step for us.” “People need more support these days and are looking for a place to rest,” she added. “But to have conversations with people about what’s going on and see it as a safe space.” Kizer shared one final thought. “We plan to be here for the next 100 years.” 3243 W. 16th St., mondaycoffee.co/monday-cafe More new openings, in alphabetical order: Fire Chef Grant Achatz and The Alinea Group just announced the opening of a new open-fire restaurant, and the closing of another. Fire will ignite in their Roister space in the West Loop starting on Nov. 20. The tasting menu is priced at $115 per person with an optional wine pairing at an additional $65. 951 W. Fulton Market, firebythealineagroup.com Gavroche MMA instructor and restaurateur Jason Chan has started une petite revolution with modern French cuisine. Gavroche began making mischief in Old Town on Oct. 5. The menu by chef Mitchell Acuña (Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, Boka) starts with an oeuf Arpège, inspired by the legendary soft cooked egg by chef Alain Passard at L’Arpège in Paris, and ends with desserts by pastry chef Christine McCabe (Charlie Trotter’s). 1529 N. Wells St., 312-898-8925, gavrochechi.com Pizz’amici Billy Federighi and Cecily Federighi (Kim’s Uncle Pizza, Pizza Fried Chicken Ice Cream) are bringing their Chicago-style, thin-crust, tavern-cut pizza back to the city. Pizz’amici started slicing in West Town on Nov. 15. Get their signature pepperoni pizza on a cracker crisp with hot honey. 1215 W. Grand Ave., 312-285-2382, pizz-amici.com The Cafe at Elawa Farm Armour meatpacking family members built what became the bucolic Elawa Farm in 1917, but never could have imagined the beautiful farm-to-table restaurant of the future. The Cafe at Elawa Farm opened in Lake Forest on Oct. 9. Chef Lee Kuebler (Mexique, Ada Street) offers breakfast and lunch, featuring a local Golden Gills mushroom tartine with pine cone bud syrup on grilled sourdough served with a side of beef fat fries or a seasonal superfood slaw. 1401 Middlefork Dr., Lake Forest; 847-234-1966, ext. 807; elawafarm.org/cafe Three Top Lounge Hospitality group 16” on Center has introduced an elevated cocktail bar at the highest point of The Salt Shed. Three Top Lounge began shaking in West Town on Nov. 1. You’ll find a $25 Manhattan made with Jack Daniel’s single barrel proof whiskey and a few small bites, including a short rib arancini. 1357 N. Elston Ave., 708-967-2168, threetoploungechicago.com In reopening news: Tavern on Rush, the perpetually packed Gold Coast bar and restaurant that closed in 2022, moved across the street to the former Nico Osteria space and reopened in the Thompson Hotel on Sept. 30. 1015 N. Rush St., 312-664-9600, tavernonrush.com In likely closing news: Sideshow Gelato, the ice cream shop and magic show space in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, has launched a GoFundMe with a goal of $45,000 (about $3,000 raised to date), and will likely close by the end of December. 4819 N. Western Ave., 773-415-4686, sideshowgelato.com Do you have notable restaurant news in the Chicago area? Email food critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu at [email protected]. Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.