Sepia Coffee Project Will Take Over a North End Cafe This Fall #DetroitFood
The new location will help the coffee roaster raise capital as its Highland Park headquarters nears groundbreaking
Gathering Coffee Co. is closing permanently in September, but Sepia Coffee Project has emerged as its replacement. Sepia founder Martell Mason tells Eater that taking the helm of the space will provide him with much-needed revenue as he continues working toward building out a roastery and tasting room in his hometown of Highland Park.
The last day of service for Gathering, at 2831 E Grand Boulevard, is September 8. In the meantime, the cafe is hosting a series of farewell events to honor the staff and community and has released a limited-run T-shirt designed by Create Magic Studios and printed by SMPLFD.
“One of the most heartbreaking aspects of The Gathering closing has been that a community space would be taken away from The North End,” reads a July 16 Instagram post announcing the switch. “However, we are elated to share that — even amidst our shop’s closing — The Gathering’s heartbeat, mission, and city partnerships will continue on in a different form. Sepia Coffee will be moving into The Gathering’s former space after our September 9th closure. The estimated soft opening for Sepia Coffee will be on October 1, 2024.”
Gathering first announced its closure in a June 6 post. “Unexpected life circumstances for our lead team, and plan b and c falling through, has forced us to find peace with this outcome,” the post reads.
Emily Steffen first began renting out the location as a “makeshift coffee bar, cool brew bar, pour-over station,” before officially launching in August 2020. Steffen was formerly the director of coffee and education at Bay City-based roaster Populace Coffee, which she continued to work with to source the coffee used for Gathering’s brews and espresso drinks. The space offered a renovated historic dark room and frequently partners with local artists to host live music acts, spoken word events, and other community-focused programming. In 2023, Gathering and a pair other Michigan-based coffee shops described as queer-identified shared details about threatening letters that appeared to target the LGBTQ+ community that each received separately and that forced them to close temporarily for the safety of employees and customers.
For Sepia’s part, the roasting company — currently also operating on a micro-level out of the North End — launched in 2021 and in December, acquired a 1,000-square-foot building in Mason’s hometown at 261 Pilgrim Street at the corner of Hamilton along with an adjoining 2,000-square-foot lot. Once construction is complete (Mason hopes to start production at the new site by the end of the year and launch the tasting sometime in spring 2025), Sepia will be able to increase its roasting capability by at least fivefold. Currently, the micro-roaster supplies about 30 clients throughout metro Detroit, New York, and Minneapolis. Sepia specializes in sourcing its line of single-origin and blended whole coffee beans from Black and brown farmers from throughout the Americas, Africa, and the Indian Pacific — all regions where Mason has experience working in as an overseas coffee trader.
Mason tells Eater that much of the space and offerings will remain the same, although he is considering naming the space in honor of Hastings Street — the road half a block from the cafe that once ran through Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood. Earlier this year, Sepia raised $144,000 from 153 investors through a Wefunder campaign that will be used for the build out of the Highland Park space.
from Eater Detroit - All
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