Coffee shop design has taken a clean, bright turn over the last few years. Makes us want to spend our days chatting and sipping for hours on end. Rather than small, dark spaces with a few mismatched couches, we’re looking squarely at joints like this: 3 Cups in Holladay. Sure, the Blue Copper coffee they’re serving is sensational, but  we were too busy looking in every direction to hold still and drink. We knew to expect great things upon chatting with Derek Belnap (a long-time fixture at the 9th & 9th Coffee Garden) and his wife, Lisa Dickman, before opening–but our first visit was still a happy surprise.

Heavily influenced by Scandinavian design, the space is elegantly pared down.

Spare can be tough to pull off, but 3 Cups nailed it. Within the clean space, designed by SLC’s Craft Architecture + Design, the subtle details really pop. Take, for example, that lovely ash-grey wash on the plywood booths. Or even the carefully placed black screws that dot them. Or the white wall sconces by Cincinnati artist, Andrew Neyer, that crane over the booths under a hand-painted, black 3.

It’s SLEEK. IMPECCABLE.

Balance ever in mind, there’s a big warm, family-style table and benches hewn from a single tree (by none other than Modern Union)…it makes for a damn fine spot to sip a cup and nibble a pastry, each of which have been crafted with the same precision as the space itself. Everything is prepared in-house by renowned-around-town pastry chef, Amber Billingsley. Think: hella-velvety pumpkin bread, brownies that brashly toe the fudge line, and a surprisingly-tasty acai bowl. Holladay deserves good coffee and treats; 3 Cups is officially serving both.