Maplewood Planning and Zoning approved two petitions for conditional use permits on Sutton Boulevard Tuesday. Stone Spiral Art Gallery got the go ahead to open at 2506 Sutton and Living Room, a coffee house and bakery was approved for the space at 2808 Sutton Blvd.
Living Room proprietors Chris Phillips and Nate Larson are excited to have cleared this procedural hurdle. When open, Living Room will be the official headquarters for Arthouse Coffees. Arthouse coffees roasts its own beans supplied by global sources.
“Each cup will be hand brewed,” Phillips said. “We’ll have pour overs, espressos and other hand brewed methods like the Kyoto brew which is a cold brewing process.”
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Living Room will also offer baked goods that are currently available alongside Arthouse Coffees at a variety of local farmers’ markets including the Webster Groves and Wildwood markets.
“We’ll have baguettes and rolls,” explained Larson. “I also make compound butters like a sundried tomato pesto butter which is excellent to cook with.”
The shop will also offer cookies, cinnamon rolls and handmade crackers. Larson and Phillips plan to eventually offer daily lunch or a weekly brunch.
Living Room works closely with Bridges Community Support Services, an organization which serves physically and cognitively disabled citizens. Living Room aims to work with Bridges clients who have “unrecognized potential” due to brain injury or developmental disabilities. Currently half of Arthouse Coffees employees are disabled or have other perceived barriers to employment.
Arthouse Coffees currently serves its coffees and baked goods from a custom coffee cart built by Cherokee Street engineers Herb Belrose and Ellie Shepley. Phillips and Larson just found out that Microgrind Solar will be donating a solar panel for the coffee cart. The solar panel will charge the cart’s battery which is used to run the onboard espresso machine and gas burners.
“We love the interaction we have at the farmers markets,” Larson said. “We are excited to move into our building and be a part of the community. We especially are excited to expand our ability to give people jobs and create opportunities for people who may not otherwise have the chance to work.”
Living Room hopes to open later this fall and has launched an Indiegogo campaign to assist with start up costs.
Also approved at Tuesday’s meeting was an art gallery to be located at 2506 Sutton Blvd. The 900 square foot space will likely showcase two artists at a time.
“This is an ideal use for this location,” said Assistant City Manager Anthony Traxler.