COCONUTS HOTSPOT – From the man behind one of Bangkok’s most celebrated brunch restaurants (Roast) comes Roots, a new coffee shop that percolates with passion for premium beans.
This is a place for serious coffee nerds. On tap are an assortment of specialty coffees like Kenyan cold drip or pressed single-source Ethiopian. The specialty beans have already attracted a legion of drinkers who jostle for seats in a venue only open from 12-6 on weekends.
Exposed ventilation plumbing and wiring is a trend among the gastropub scene, but here it’s not done to be cool—it’s apparent that this space was never really intended to be a coffee shop. Roots is a busy, fully operational kitchen during the week, and a coffee lovers’ hangout on the weekends. Expect to see plastic bins filled up with the good stuff, kitchen cooling systems, and other restaurant-related equipment in storage on the premises—but that’s part of its charm. Perhaps the most endearing physical aspect of Roots is it’s bar, which was made from repurposed wood and put together by the folks from If I were a carpenter.
Even more unique is the payment system: there are no checks or tabs, everything runs on the honor system. Coffee is priced at 100THB and pastries ring in at 50THB, and patrons are expected to put money in a jar for their check on their way out the door. It’s suggested that you pay less or more depending on the level of your satisfaction—leaving the price open, in a sort of Pay What You Want model, which was widely popularized in the US years ago when Tera Bite, a Seattle coffee shop, introduced this pricing strategy. It has since adopted a traditional pricing system. The general consensus is that this model works—if you’re the first one to do it.
FIND IT:
Between Ekkamai soi 15 and 17
Open Weekends 12-6
