Inside Bedford, a new Brooklyn cafe from Partners Coffee. All images courtesy of Partners Coffee.
Brooklyn, New York-based roasting company Partners Coffee recently opened a cafe called Bedford not far from its original location in Williamsburg, focusing more intentionally on coffee education, experimentation and conversation.
Located on Bedford Avenue, the new shop is both a neighborhood cafe with an on-site kitchen and a platform for the rollout of rare and limited-release offerings with different brewing methods.
Joining locations in Queens and the West Village, the 50-seat shop is less than four blocks away from the original Brooklyn cafe that’s been humming away on North 6th Street for the past 14 years.
Like other Partners cafes, Bedford leans on natural materials and a timeless style, while shifting away from the earthier brick-and-wood palette of earlier spaces. White walls and tile floors are contrasted by blue chairs and blue accents.
A focal point is the bar, built around a single curved slab of Italian Calacatta gold marble. The coffee program is supported by a Modbar 2.0 espresso system with dual steam towers and a fleet of Mahlkönig grinders, plus a dedicated Modbar pourover station centered on a Weber Workshops EG-1 grinder.
“We’re able to respond to the demand we’ve seen for more coffee education and conversation,” Partners Director of Coffee Cary Wong said in an announcement of the opening shared with DCN. “The equipment and the pace of service allow us to slow down and truly showcase the coffees and the people behind them.”
Bedford is also designed as a platform for new releases and limited coffees. Wong and Partners Green Coffee Buyer Samuel Klein plan to host quarterly tastings focused on education, sourcing and traceability.
With the kitchen, Bedford also expands Partners’ food program with counter-service breakfast and brunch plates, including eggs, potatoes, roasted veggies, bacon and buttermilk pancakes.
A new mobile app supports order-ahead and loyalty, keeping more counter time available for barista conversation and education.
Partners was founded in 2012 by co-owners Amber Jacobsen and Adam Boyd under the name Toby’s Estate, licensing the name from the Australian roaster founded by Toby Smith. The company rebranded as Partners Coffee in 2019 to better reflect local ownership and Brooklyn roots.
As of last spring, Partners roasting operations have moved to a dedicated facility on Thames Street in Bushwick, where Probat G60 and P25 machines are poised to produce approximately 1 million pounds of coffee this year, according to the company.
“Our roasting operations had long outgrown the space,” Wong told DCN. “[North 6th] continues to be the flagship coffee experience — 15 years since we took the space, and it is always packed with happy coffee drinkers, but it is busy.”
With Bedford, Wong said Partners is hoping to slow down the pace a beat or two.
Wong said, “Using Modbar pourover and espresso, it creates more room for a slower, more considered service model, with a stronger emphasis on education and engagement.”
Partners Coffee Bedford is located at 145 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
