SEATTLE, WA – This week marks a milestone for Seattle coffee favorite Trabant Coffee and Chai who have announced plans for their Pioneer Square cafe to roll out Laika, an evening lounge service with a full food menu and cocktail bar in March.
Trabant, which is in the process of reorganizing its Pioneer Square space to incorporate a commercial kitchen, will be serving up a menu of traditional foods from the USSR and cocktails inspired by the pioneering spirit of the Soviet cosmonauts.
With this move, Trabant hopes to shake up the format of Seattle coffee shops a bit by reinterpreting the high end cafe into a full culinary experience.
Zamran Alma, manager at Trabant’s Pioneer Square cafe, sees the expansion as an opportunity to examine the role of the coffee shop in Seattle.
Named after the first living creature to experience Earth orbit, Laika will be an exercise in testing the boundaries of the intersection of food and beverage culture.
Trabant initially launched an expansion into the food world back in 2010 when it renovated its University District cafe to include a commercial kitchen space, from which it started turning out house made breakfast items, soups, sandwiches and other lunch fare.
Trabant, which prides itself for both its coffee and food, is somewhat unique among the Seattle coffee scene where it is rare to find a cafe serving house made food alongside specialty coffee.
Trabant opened back in 2003 at its U-District location as a venue to showcase its chai, which quickly grew a cult following among the college study crowd.
An enthusiasm for the specialty coffee world quickly took hold of the staff and Trabant progressed into what many regard as a staple of the Seattle coffee scene.
Aside from its fascination with astronauts, Trabant is known for operating the last independently owned Clover coffee machine in Seattle, providing a very unique opportunity for coffee lovers to try non-Starbucks coffee from the formidable machines.
Trabant is also known for its house-made syrups, with flavors ranging from a traditional vanilla to more exotic ones such as strawberry jalepeno and saffron. These syrups have given rise to rotating, seasonal drink menus at both cafes, and have inspired Laika’s craft-cocktail menu.
The Pioneer Square café will maintain normal coffee shop hours weekdays from 7am-4pm, then reopen as Laika for the dinner crowd from 5-10pm, with weekends slated for all day Laika service.
For more information, please visit: http://trabantcoffee.com/ and http://trabantcoffee.com/blog/.
(Photo credits: trabantcoffee.com)
