Coffee spots — New East 100

Cafe culture has blown up of late, with an increasing number of coffee shops now offering much more than food and drink. Your local cafe is also an office, a shop for quirky gifts, and most important of all, a beautiful backdrop for all your selfies and #foodporn posts. With this in mind, the number of beautifully designed coffee shops for you to snap away in has risen. Whether it’s Scandi-minimalism or industrial interiors that you’re after, here are some of the best designed cafes in the New East.

Sfäär

A slice of Scandinavia in in the centre of Estonia’s capital, Sfäär has everything you would expect — white interiors, metro tiles and lots of light — and more. Sfäär doubles up as a restraurant and shop to satisfy all your Nordic needs.

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White Whale

This cafe takes Odessa’s location on the Black sea coast as inspiration, only instead of nautical print, you’ll be greeted to the cafe with a beautiful hand-painted whale. Be sure to try out one of their desserts.

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Progress

Moscow-based Progress features industrial furniture, decorative mosaics and cider on tap which you can pour to your own liking. The coffee shop recently opened a second, smaller branch in the city that offers coffee and food for people on the go.

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Origo

Visit Bucharest’s Origo coffee shop to see a stylish display of 276 coffee cups hanging from the ceiling, offering a striking contrast from the cafe’s chalkboard walls. The concept was thought up by Romanian design studio Lama Architecture, who wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere with an edge.

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Kafeterija

Kafeterija in a popular Serbian coffee chain, with cafe’s spread out across Belgrade and Novi Sad. With so many branches it’s never had to compromise on design, which looks like it’s taken straight off a Pinterest board.

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Blue Cup Coffee Shop

Nature lovers should check out Kiev’s Blue Cup coffee shop which boasts colourful animal, flora and fauna print on its walls and upholstery. The interiors, designed by local studio Kleydesign, were inspired by the “red book of Ukraine”, a publication dating back to the Soviet-era that lists endangered animals and plants.

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Text: Liza Premiyak