Cult-Favorite Kumquat Opens an Ambitious Coffee Compound in Glassell Park

In early October, Quat quietly opened in an expansive cafe, roastery, and tasting room compound on Dolores Street in Glassell Park. It’s the latest project from AJ Kim and Scott Sohn, who planned this type of Apple headquarters-tinged campus back when the duo opened Highland Park’s original Kumquat Coffee in 2018. In 2023, the partners opened a second Kumquat in Downtown Los Angeles, following its Cypress Park sister cafe, Loquat, in 2022. They debuted the frequently busy Fondry bakery in 2024 down the street from the original Kumquat. Quat, a hybrid name of Kumquat and Loquat, is Kim and Sohn’s long-term goal for their coffee business, which is rapidly turning into a Korean coffee wave empire in Southern California.

Back in 2018, Kim told Eater he wanted a centralized coffee roasting operation as well as a retail space, an outdoor seating area, a coffee service area, and a coffee omakase tasting room. Now, that longtime dream has been realized: Kim designed the 3,500-square-foot Quat with a minimalist approach, using neutral tones, discounted furniture (to keep costs down), and hand-painted art from his mother. To add to running three cafes, a bakery, and the new Quat, Kim says they’re opening another Kumquat in Hollywood later this year.

“This is our new home,” he says. “We wanted to pursue transparency with the coffees we roast for consumers to have a little more attention and knowledge.”

Quat’s Atelier Q tasting omakase room. B For Brand

Across Quat’s courtyard, find two entrances with multiple tables and chairs. On the north side, visitors can purchase specialty coffee and tea drinks, which were curated during Kim’s 50 trips abroad over the last year, during which he developed relationships with growers while traveling to countries like Ethiopia, Ecuador, Panama, and Colombia. Beans and tea leaves are showcased throughout two expansive rooms. Quat’s beans are highly curated, with some high-end beans that cost a few hundred dollars, as well as more affordable coffee varieties. A few steps toward the rear retail space reveal an eight-seat tasting room that Kim hopes to have operational in the coming months. Quat’s omakase room, named Atelier Q, will operate by appointment only.

Quat’s south side houses the compact cafe and roasting room. The menu features standard coffee drinks as well as two mashup inventions from well-liked drinks at Kumquat and Loquat. The Claude Cooler is an oolong, green plum extract, and peaflower tea. The Copenhagen gets made with espresso, spiced apple cider syrup, mascarpone foam, cardamom, and cinnamon. While ordering drinks, visitors can peer through the floor-to-ceiling windows and catch a glimpse of the bean roasting process.

The Trump Administration’s tariffs have had an impact on Kim’s businesses, as with most coffee operators in the United States. According to Forbes, the price of coffee is 39 percent higher than in 2024; the cost can also depend on the beans’ country of origin. “Earlier this year, the coffee price skyrocketed, fluctuated, and created chaos for all large green bean buyers,” says Kim. “Add on the tariff, and that resulted in us paying 30 percent to 100 percent more than usual. This is the new normal.”

Fortunately, there is still high demand for coffee-makers like Loquat and Kumquat. In recent years, the Korean coffee wave hit Los Angeles hard with cafes like Damo Teahouse, Handles Coffee (formerly Camel), and Series A Coffee opening throughout the region. Though specific drinks and desserts are associated with Korean coffee culture, it’s these cafes’ fine attention to detail that has many Angelenos returning to them. Kim and Sohn hope to bring that same level of thoughtfulness to Quat, including with their employees: Kim started his career as a barista and says he wants to help uplift his workers into more prominent roles within the coffee world by showcasing their skills in the omakase tasting room.

“We work with amazing talent, but sometimes there is a limit to the type of compensation or position we can offer them,” says Kim. “For baristas to get ahead and get further inspiration to believe that they can have a career, we’ll open Quat’s [omakase] stage for talented candidates who want to stay in the industry. To create a different space like this is desperately needed right now.”

Quat is open from Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3030 Dolores Street (which shares a wall with Forest Lawn cemetery), Glassell Park, CA 90065.