You may have noticed the front of the shop looks a little different this week. We wanted to write something short about why, because a storefront isn’t just paint — it’s the first thing you see, and we don’t take that lightly.
When we opened Rooted four years ago, the building was a former dry cleaner with fluorescent lights and a green awning that wasn’t ours. We kept the awning because we couldn’t afford to replace it, and over time it became part of the place. People gave us directions by it. Kids drew it. We grew attached.
But it was fading, and the green had gone gray, and every time it rained we patched another corner. This spring we finally took it down. The new sign is warmer — a deep moss, hand-painted by a local artist who used to come in for cortados before she moved her studio across town. The lettering is the same font we’ve used since day one. The bones haven’t changed.
We also opened up the side window so you can see the bar from the sidewalk. We’ve always loved how a working cafe looks from the outside — the steam, the ticket rail, the rhythm of it — and we wanted to share that view with the people walking by.
What stayed: the bench out front (slightly re-stained), the planter our neighbor donated in year one, and the small chalkboard where Jules writes a different bad pun every Monday. Some things are sacred.
If you stop in this week, the espresso bar will look the same, the regulars will still be at their usual tables, and we’ll still know your drink. We just hope the walk up feels a little more like coming home.
Thank you for being part of this place. — The Founders