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If you’re a fan of Portlandia on IFC, you’ll understand that when you “put a bird on it,” things get spruced up and pretty in a hurry (“I’m painting a bird on a bird!”) — well, at least until the real deal appears.
Perhaps that’s what the owners of Songbird Coffee & Tea House had in mind when they were coming up with the name for their new shop coming to downtown Phoenix, inside the cavernous warehouse turned gallery space monOrchid on Roosevelt Row
“The name is actually inspired from ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin,” co-owner Erin Carroll tells me. “My husband [co-owner Jonathan] has a musical background.”
Set to open in June, Songbird will join several other coffee shops in the area — so what makes the Carroll’s shop different?
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Carroll tells me that being inside monOrchid gives her coffee shop the space to host live music, movie nights, poetry readings, and display local art. The shop also will have free Wi-Fi.
“We want it to be comfortable, like a pub, a place you can visit and see people you know,” Carroll says. “You can curl up with a book or just talk to a friend.”
And when it comes to the coffee, tea, and eats, Carroll tells me it will all be locally-focused with pastries from Bertha’s Cafe, bagels and danishes from Jonathan Robins Bakery, and gourmet, pre-wrapped breakfast burritos from Phoenix chef Scott Wedge. (The couple is still looking at options for a local roaster.)
“We’re focused on simple, really great coffee and quality teas,” Carroll says. “No blended drinks.”
