Blue Bottle Joins Up with Tartine Bakery's First Tokyo Location

The Bay Area is about to hit Tokyo like Godzilla, as Blue Bottle Coffee has announced that in addition to the cafe they'll be opening on Friday in Kiyosumi, they'll also be joining forces with Tartine Bakery's previously announced Tokyo project, in the Daikanyama district (13 Daikanwama cho, Shibuya ku). The 2,000-square-foot bakery will mostly be devoted to breads and pastries from Tartine, but it'll now also feature a small Blue Bottle kiosk.

It's the third signpost in what's been an aggressive Japanese expansion for Blue Bottle, which is also planning a cafe in the Aoyama district, set to open next month. The Tartine project, which is currently under construction, should open a bit later in the spring. Tartine's Chad Robertson remains on the hunt for a space in London and is weighing outposts in Los Angeles and New York; Blue Bottle has already opened in both of the latter cities. The two companies are also on the expansion warpath at home, with Blue Bottle opening at least two new cafes in San Francisco this year, and Tartine plotting its huge new space at Heath Ceramics, The Manufactory, for late spring—right next to a Blue Bottle. For the time being, however, the original Tartine Bakery still serves coffee from a Blue Bottle competitor, nearby roastery Four Barrel.