Photo courtesy of Newfangled Times.
San Diego Beer Brewing and Coffee Roasting Company Modern times has always had a knack for playful and engaging interior design. One recent example is a life-size velociraptor peering down over a bank of Newfangled Times faucet handles at the company’s latest joint venture, coffee shop and beer bar The Invigatorium.
In San Diego’s East Village, Invigatorium is the 13th unique concept from the artistic San Diego hospitality firm Consortium Holdingswhich is no slouch when it comes to extravagant interiors. While the Consortium staffs and operates the Invigatorium, the coffee, beer and events on site are pure Contemporary.
Invigatorium at 9th Ave. and Market St. in San Diego’s East Village. Photo courtesy of Newfangled Times.
In addition to the quality of the coffee and beer served, customers familiar with the original Newfangled Times brewery will notice another sign of its demise: a massive mural made entirely of Post-it notes, this time depicting a fire-breathing dragon.
Photo courtesy of Newfangled Times.
“Basically, our aesthetic is a maximalist DIY haunted house, and the Consortium aesthetic is a tasteful, luxurious maximalism,” Reed says. “We had the best of both worlds in this space. Because there was very little structured collaboration in the space, we were able to both build on each other’s ideas rather than trying to convince the other to meet halfway on individual elements. It led to a really captivating amalgamation of styles, which made it difficult to pinpoint exactly what made this space special. It’s like trying to discover the secret ingredient in a particularly great batch of spaghetti sauce.”
Photo by Brian Eastman.
Using the same shiny brass as the Invigatorium’s exterior façade, Newfangled Times has adapted its own Synesso A 3-group espresso machine on the outside adds visual flair to support a menu with plenty of its own flair. In addition to the full range of conventional drip and espresso offerings, customers can also opt for a horchata slushie, with a frigid brew base mixed with almond milk and a sweet cinnamon-vanilla syrup. A shot of barrel-aged espresso can be steeped in frigid brew for a home-style Boilermaker.
“It’s exclusive to Invigatorium,” Reed said of Boilermaker. “We’ll definitely be seeing more wildly artistic coffee drinks in the near future.”
Other moves planned for Newfangled Times include what Reed described as a “significant expansion” of its Portland, Oregon, facility, Belmont Fermentariumincluding a larger kitchen, more space for a tasting room and an elegant rooftop lounge scheduled for completion in the fall.
Photo by Brian Eastman.
Reed said, “This will be followed by our modern tasting room in Oakland, and construction is underway on Leisuretown — our mega-plex in Anaheim that will feature a brewery, restaurant, pool and tons of chilly modern art.”
Invigatorium is now open 631 9th Ave in San Diego.
Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the deputy editor of Daily Coffee News at Roast Magazine. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
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