Mostra Coffee

Mostra has been bringing specialty-grade Philippine coffee to market since 2015 and calls itself the largest importer of it, which is the reason to be at this counter. The menu here hands flavored lattes two categories of their own, Creme Brulee and Signature, a lot of syrup for a company whose roaster Nick Berardi won the U.S. Roaster Championship.

Everything is roasted in-house on two San Franciscan machines the company calls Feli and Franny, given a full tear-down once or twice a month, and the espresso bar opened on a Mavam. Retail bags name the farm and the elevation: a Caturra from Fabian Acevedo's family farm in Colombia's Huila at roughly 1,750 meters, a Benguet microlot from Sitio Belis at 1,400 to 1,700.

Architects Orange took this one as architect of record and design architect, refitting 699 square feet with streamlined casework and a beverage-prep layout built around the bar's own workflow. Natural textures and crisp lines keep it bright, and at that size nothing decorative survives the plan.