Now more than ever, it’s important to enjoy life’s simple pleasures such as a nice, hot beverage.
The folks at the popular Strip District-based De Fer Coffee & Tea are making it easier for Pittsburghers to indulge by opening two new locations.
The company opened a site April 1 at The Highline at 339 McKean St. in the South Side. De Fer occupies an existing café space recently vacated by Astroid, a coffee shop run by Beauty Shoppe. Matt Marietti, co-owner of De Fer, says they’ve made some aesthetic changes and will offer more food than the former tenant. While this location won’t serve alcohol regularly, it will host events where boozy offerings will be available. Hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday until April 12 when it’ll operate daily from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It won’t be De Fer’s first stint at The Highline. Last fall, the business supplied a caffeine fix to folks visiting Lagerlands Socially Distant Beer Garden, a pop-up bar that operated on weekends. Burgh’ers Brewing, one of the Lagerlands partners, also is opening a location at the South Side development, which offers visitors two hours of free parking in its garage and is accessible from the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.
The café will soon debut in the lobby of The Riviera, a new, 160,200-square-foot office building in South Oakland. It will offer an extensive menu of non-alcoholic refreshments, as well as to-go goodies from Madeleine Bakery & Bistro. Located at 350 Technology Dr., the café will boast garage doors that open up to riverfront views.
At 2002 Smallman Street in the Strip, De Fer’s flagship shop is operating under a takeout model due to Covid. It’s open for contactless pickup daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There’s free delivery in Pittsburgh for orders over $30 and free nationwide shipping on all orders over $45. In addition to coffee and tea, customers can order to-go cocktails and beer, accessories, apparel, and provisions such as oat milk, canned fish, crackers and gourmet chocolate.
Marietti says the shop has been busy, despite the pandemic, but he’s looking forward to bringing back indoor seating and in-person events once it’s safe to do so.