Play

Nothing is roasted in-house, and Laguna Beach keeps more than a dozen roasters going at once — Sey, Tim Wendelboe, La Cabra, April, Prolog, Nomad, Apollon's Gold, Mame — with four to six sharing the espresso menu at a time, each on its own recipe and pressure profile. It is the first room Play built from the ground up with the layout under its own control, and what it built was a bar that can run six espressos at six different pressures.

• A single-origin espresso off the rotation
• A pour-over on the April brewer
• A pastry from the Colossus case
• The covered patio

The model is a rotating guest bar sourced from roasters the founder features long term — Nomad, Tim Wendelboe, Apollon's Gold, Prolog, Sey, and La Cabra among more than a dozen in rotation, four to six sharing the espresso menu at once on unique recipes and pressure profiles. House signatures include a Volcano Latte (smoky sea salt, brown sugar) and a Saffron Cappuccino.

Laguna Beach architect Anders Lasater led this 1,400-square-foot buildout: raw steel, smooth concrete and brick behind the bar, warm wood banquettes inside, covered patio out front. It is the first Play the company drew and built with full control of the layout — after six shipping containers and a 1928 bank, the third attempt is the one where nothing had to be worked around.