Suklaa

How did this place come about and what made it different from the start?
Suklaa was born as an intuition rather than a plan. It came from the need to create a space where coffee would be a meeting point, not just a place of transaction. From the start, I understood we didn’t want to be just a café, but a place where every detail—the drink, the light, the textures, and the rhythm of service—would build an experience.

What part of the day, space, or creative process do those who work here enjoy the most?
The early hours of the day always have something special, like a ritual. Turning on our equipment, grinding the first coffee, setting everything in place before people arrive—it’s a quiet moment where everything is about to happen. The creative process behind each season is also deeply enjoyable: imagining new combinations, testing, making mistakes, and trying again and again. Suklaa is always in motion.

If someone is coming in for the first time, what should they not miss?
More than a specific product or drink, it’s the invitation to stay: to enjoy the details and allow yourself to slow down a little. If there’s something they shouldn’t miss, it’s experiencing the whole: the care put into a drink, a good freshly made dessert, and the feeling that the space and atmosphere were made for you.

What has been an interesting challenge that has made you rethink something about the project?
Without a doubt, growing without losing our identity. Each new stage means more team members, more ideas, more reach, and that forces me to look inward and ask what truly represents Suklaa and what doesn’t. It’s a constant exercise of returning to our origin, and it’s been one of the greatest lessons: understanding that moving forward and evolving doesn’t mean losing your essence.

What influence, idea, or reference continues to shape the way you work today?
The idea that the everyday can transform into something essential when it’s done with intention: freshly brewed coffee, a kind gesture, and a thoughtfully designed space. Design, aesthetics, and the belief that spaces can communicate emotions without a single word are also part of our inspiration.

What place, project, or person has inspired you recently and why?
We believe in honest work, quiet dedication, and constant process. We’re inspired by projects that grow from authenticity—ones that don’t imitate trends but instead build their own message, their own language. Spaces where you can feel the intention and sensitivity behind every decision.

If your space could invite someone to collaborate for a day, who would it be and what would you do together?
It would be interesting to collaborate with a Mexican artist like Gabriel Orozco, with a temporary installation in our space, or to explore coffee as an artistic object, bringing Suklaa into a more cultural, not just gastronomic, setting.

Is there an object, corner or detail of the place that has a story that few people know?
There’s a corner almost no one notices closely: the tip jar. It’s always full, but not just of coins—there are foreign bills, rubber ducks, tiny figurines, trinkets people began leaving as if it were a small offering. I don’t know exactly when it started; I just know that one day it stopped being a tip jar and became a small capsule of stories. I like to think they’re not just tips, but a sign that someone who came here experienced something and decided to leave a little piece of their world behind.

If this project were a city, a book, or a record, which would it be and why?
If it were a record, it would be September Of My Years from Frank Sinatraespecially because of “That’s Life”. It’s about falling and getting back up again and again, and I feel Suklaa has been just that: consistency and character—not perfection, but persistence without giving up.

Answers by Sergio Castro, founder and creative head of Suklaa