Flor. Coffee + Books, a Buenos Aires-inspired cafe and bookshop, is hosting its grand opening celebration today, August 22, at 1220 31st St. NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Co-owners Florencia Agrazo and Marco Ferrario had a soft-opening last week
During the pandemic, Agrazo began gratitude journaling to help deal with anxiety. Washingtonian reported that "she and the practice bloomed--she even published her own series of gratitude journals." Nearly five years later, Flor. Coffee + Books is the physical manifestation of those habits. "The idea is to build a space where people can stop the rushing, so that they can be present," Agrazo said
The second-floor bookshop is stocked with English- and Spanish-language volumes about mental health, healthy cooking, and gratitude. There is also a "gratitude machine," a ticket dispenser that Agrazo has filled with prompts like, "Recall a song or piece of art that uplifts you." Couch and table seating are also offered.
"We want people to feel that they are entering a friend's living room, their grandma's house," Agrazo said. "And to connect with this quiet environment where they can almost take their shoes off."
The food menu, developed by chef Jovana Urriola, features American classics like sandwiches and breakfast bowls, with dressings and sauces inflected with Agrazo's Argentinian heritage. An array of Argentinian pastries are also on offer.