New health-focused coffee shop in Kansas City area hopes to be ‘catalyst’ for community
Inside Nate Thomas’ vibey new coffee shop, customers sit around high tops and sip from mugs topped with milk-foam hearts.
At the grand opening Saturday, a guitarist gently strummed tunes, a geometric painting hanging behind him.
The spacious main room inside his building — 1800 Highgrove Road in Grandview — is Thomas’ most recent business venture. Beneath it, Thomas and his wife own a chiropractic office and golf simulator. A tattoo parlor is coming soon.
Thomas’ medical experience and passion for health and wellness inspired Ase Coffee’s menu and name (pronounced “ace”).
Enzyme names generally end in the suffix -ase.
“Enzymes are a catalyst for action in the body …” he explained. “So we’re gonna be a catalyst for action in the community.”
His vision for the space? Neighbors gathering where “the ambience is good, the drinks are fantastic.”
Thomas uses all organic milk, and offers macadamia nut milk for a dairy-free alternative instead of ones with seed oil. Ase sells pastries from Fox & Bull Baking Co., a bakery that uses organic flours to make goodies without dyes or corn syrup.
Ase will expand its menu to include cocktails and a full bar service, once it gets its liquor license. A stage inside the space will host live music.
.jpg "IMG_9544 (1).jpg")
A coffee shop might seem like an out-of-character enterprise for a chiropractor, but Thomas has been taking notes for Ase for a while.
“I’ve been a coffee nerd for about 12 years, and I’m a business guy,” he said. “I’ve seen some not run so well. … I put all the pieces together of what I wanted, take the best of every single coffee shop I’ve been to around town.”
Its beans are supplied by Colorado’s Peregrine Coffee, which Thomas said is one of the best roasters in the country. Ase offers select food items like breakfast burritos.
The coffee shop will double as an event space. It’s open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It’s closed Sundays.