Maybe it is a quarter-life crisis, but I doubt it. Morgan Maassen just does things differently than most. At the ripe old age of 25, the Santa Barbara native has purposely pulled the e-brake on his meteoric and multifaceted rise through the glamorous and globe-trotting ranks of “people who make a living with a camera.” Now he’s shifted his focus to the steamy morning rituals of the folks in his hometown. Specifically? Breakfast.
But Maassen, with old friend and former Handlebar Coffee Roasters manager Tosh Clements as his partner in crime, has stuffed the whole traditional breakfast concept right on through Alice’s looking glass, done away with the food (mostly), given it a capital “B,” added a bold dash of art, installed a super sexy roll-up glass garage door, and turned it into a high-test culture club on the 700 block of Chapala.
“Originally, we wanted to do a street-wear fashion line, but instead it somehow turned into coffee and this,” explained Maassen recently, his arms gesturing matter-of-factly toward the bustling, shiny white, and smartly remodeled building behind him that was once home to a rundown tint shop, an insurance office, and a barbershop. The space made my modern-architect wife “ooh” and “aah” and say vague, architect-y things like “clean” and “elegant yet utilitarian” upon entering it for the first time. I, on the other hand, am immediately impressed that there is a water dish and free biscuits for dogs as well as comfy couches and tea mugs that are entirely devoid of handles.