The Zaha Hadid-designed Contemporary Arts Center's Kaplan Hall Lobby is currently undergoing an estimated $1.1 million renovation to make the space more welcoming to visitors. The goal of the renovated lobby, which was designed by local design and architecture firm FRCH Design Worldwide, will be to engage visitors through an updated lounge space, cafe and bar, relocated welcome desk and more carefully curated gift shop.
And the CAC has just announced that Collective Espresso will be manning the aforementioned cafe space. Owners Dustin Miller and Dave Hart have signed on to bring their expertly crafted coffees to the center, along with a menu of breakfast, lunch and evening treats. The new space, Collective CAC, will open just mere months after the duo's second Collective Espresso location opened in Northside. Collective CAC, which will seat 48, will be open during lobby hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Tuesday; 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Friday.
"Our approach to coffee is really quite simple," say Miller and Hart in a recent press release. "We use the best, quality sourced ingredients, and do our best to simply and beautifully prepare them. There is beauty in the traditional espresso drinks, beauty in steamed milk poured into expertly extracted espresso. Our approach to food will be in the same vein: using the best ingredients and time honored skills in the kitchen to produce beautifully simple dishes."
"Everybody here at the CAC loves their coffee and the process they engage to make one of the city's best cups," says CAC Director Raphaela Platow in the same release. "The care they take to prepare their offerings is very similar to how we think about our own work of extraordinary artistic experiences that are carefully put together and executed."
The new Kaplan Hall Lobby will be unveiled on March 13 with a members-only reception, and will be open to the public starting March 14. For more information, visit contemporaryartscenter.org.
