A new coffee shop and event space has opened at 1042 Toledano St. in the Irish Channel. It hopes to provide a working space and destination spot for those in need of a place to study or looking for entertainment options at night.
Junk Drawer Coffee is the coffee shop part of the business. Owned by David Privat-Gilman, the shop’s specialty is dark and medium roast coffee and pastries.
Privat-Gilman is from Oakland. He attended school in New York and worked with tech and finance companies before moving to New Orleans three years ago. Six months ago, when he thought he needed a career change, he decided to open a café.
Privat-Gilman will be the first to admit that he doesn’t have a complex background in the coffee industry; his goal isn’t to emulate some of the other popular coffee shops in town. Instead, he explained that he wanted to create the type of coffee shop he would like to visit.
He explained, “It’s bright and inclusive and we want it to be fun, approachable, and welcoming. If you want to study here, you can. We have WiFi and outlets at every seat so that you can plug in your computer and work or study. We want it to be a space where people are comfortable and can just hang out.”
As for the coffee, Privat-Gilman grew up on dark coffee, so that’s his focus at Junk Drawer. The café’s leading coffee is from a roaster in Oakland, and he also serves coffee from local roaster, Las Brujas Specialty Coffee. The shop also offers a daily rotating selection of coffee from local roasters for drip coffee and espresso.
As for snacks, pastries are available, and Privat-Gilman hopes to expand the food menu and serve sandwiches, bagels, and salads.
Andrew Stevens owns Sports Drink, an event space that operates in the evenings in the same space as Junk Drawer. Stevens is from Baton Rouge and attended college at the University of Georgia, where he ran a local sports blog in which UGA students would write about UGA sports. From there, he moved into the podcasting world, and helped podcasters set up sponsorships and promotions.
“We did some events with the Pelicans and did some live podcasts for our local shows,” Stevens said. “The live events really took off and we started building out the community that we wanted. We started thinking about getting a studio space where we could film content. As I was thinking about that I connected with David because I knew he was starting the coffee shop. It just made sense to have the coffee shop by day and an event space by night.”
As for the evening venture, Stevens wants Sports Drink to provide a space for creatives that falls outside of the typical bar space.
“There aren’t a lot of spaces in New Orleans where you can have a creative space that isn’t a bar,” he said. “We wanted a place where people could hang out and have conversations and enjoy local events.”
Sports Drink hosts a movie showing every Wednesday, a trivia night every Thursday, and live performances on most Fridays. Other events include art shows, live comedy, and music. There are also special events, information for which can be found on the monthly calendar on Sports Drink’s Instagram page.
The event space is a BYOB establishment and offers a “build your own” sandwich menu.
Privat-Gilman and Stevens are excited to present a space that works for the day and night crowd. Stevens explained that people who come into the shop during the day learn about the evening events and are excited to come back and have fun in a safe, inclusive space.
“We’ve found that it’s a good business relationship and it’s mutually beneficial,” he said. “The two businesses work well together in the same space.”
Privat-Gilman added, “We’re trying to make this a fun place that’s open to all. Andrew and I are friends and the working relationship has been good for both businesses.”
Junk Drawer is open Wednesday through Monday, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sports Drink is open Wednesday through Friday from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. It is also open for special events.
