“I think of betting, betting, betting,” says Yasmin Kaytmaz, founder of Derby Cup Coffee, about the race that inspired her new Chinatown café, at 37 Elizabeth St. “I think of cigarettes. And I think of coffee to stay awake.”
Kaytmaz (it’s pronounced like Kate Moss), 29, an artist and co-owner of the River, came to coffee after getting the equivalent of a master’s in NYC nightlife. At 18, she came to New York to study art at Parsons (it was actually a return; she was born here and grew up in West Palm Beach), but ended up managing Lucien, the oh-so-sceney East Village French bistro, known more for its chic young clientele than its canard confit. In 2022, she partnered with a gaggle of LES locals, including David Komurek, co owner of Bayard Street hokkaido Dr. Clark, to open a windowless woody saloon next door. That bar, the River, quickly became a late-night mainstay for the downtown art and fashion crowds. After three years, she was ready for something soberingly new; she and Komurek decided on a café.
Kaytmaz comes to Derby Cup Coffee honestly. First, as a neighbor: “I’ve lived in this area for a while, and there was no coffee,” she says. “We have outdoor seating. There’s no café seating in this area unless you go over to Dimes Square. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to sit in Dimes Square.”
And secondly, as a lifelong horse enthusiast: “My mom had a racehorse,” she says. “It’s a whole game. The whole idea is that you take the horse’s lineage, you breed a horse, and then you train them, race them. There’s an opportunity, because they’re thoroughbreds, to train them again to become an equestrian.”
Kaytmaz defines herself as 90% horse girl. The other 10%? “That’s my urge to live in the city,” she says. “I’m 10% rat.”
Both are evident in Derby Cup Coffee. “In New York, there’s this trend of very clean lines, a Copenhagen kind of feeling. And we’ve lost that draw to hang out and to comfort,” she says. She and interior designer Jack McCready built Derby Cup Coffee as a riposte to this coolness: The space exudes warmth, with leather horse accoutrement and adventurous artwork from local stars on the walls. Kaytmaz wanted it to evoke a tack room (a place where horse gear is stored, and where equestrians both ready themselves and disrobe from their rides). “Everything’s stained dark cherry wood, and everything’s a little janky,” she says. “The stools are inspired by where you put your boots on.” She’s looking at old jockey saddles. “We did everything ourselves. We even did our own light fixtures.”
Kaytmaz is eager for that approachability to continue with their coffee, where she’s looked to Variety Coffee Roasters, a no-nonsense Brooklyn roastery that boasts freshness over preciousness. “Variety is really great because it’s not Abraço. That’s, like, a particular coffee nerd. Variety is not niche. It’s a little more universal. It’s not La Cabra; it’s not a light roast,” she says. “I just want a good cup of coffee. It removes all the bullshit around it.”
When it comes to Derby’s food, Kaytmaz will make some allowances for the nerdy B.S. “I care about croissants,” she says. For baguettes and pastry, she’s sourcing from Jacqueline Eng’s Partybus Bakeshop of the Lower East Side. Famous for their organic sourdough made from locally sourced flour, taking the form of both classic breads and savory treasures like their hand-held scallion buns. At Derby, you’ll be able to find their prized ham and Gruyère baguette, as well as one with jam and salted butter, plus pain au chocolat (and sans chocolat aussi—aka plain croissant). The café is making their own cardamom, olive oil, and pistachio cakes.
It also boasts a singular approach to the art it displays, tying back to Kaytmaz’s own artistic output, which has included sculptures of horse legs and work with the image of the Marlboro Man. She likes the idea of playing with traditional, kitschy coffeehouse art—like a printed image that says “Love is Where the Heart Is”—as well as work that accommodates the theme.
She may transplant a work from her own home, a drawing by the German artist Antonius Höckelmann: “He used to go down to the racetracks and sketch the horses all day. I believe he loved gambling.” She’s looking to add work from Jamian Juliano-Villani, Walter Robinson, Sanya Kantarovsky, David Muenzer, and Sam Anderson, artists who may be local but whose work is found in major galleries and museums, not so much coffee shops. “It’s my joke,” Kaytmaz says, a naughty sparkle in her eye.
So who gets to be in on the joke? “Every single time I open up a place I ask, ‘Who’s it for?’ It’s mainly for me and my friends. I want to come and have a meeting here. Sit and chill outside and smoke a million cigarettes. That’s really who it’s for,” Kaytmaz says. Sounds niche, but there may very well be a need. On warm weekends, the tables and chairs tend to come out on Canal at Clandestino and the rest, but day-to-day, the Lower East Side and Chinatown have very few places to hang out. Kaytmaz notes the offices of fashion brand Collina Strada upstairs, as well as Still Here denim, nearby, and Martos Gallery next door. “There’s definitely a community around here that’s not really able to go anywhere during the day,” she says.
Moreover, Kaytmaz sees her Chinatown location as just one of many for Derby Cup Coffee, bringing some chicness and quality to areas known to be coffee dead zones, where Blank Street and Starbucks might stand in for café culture. “I would really like to do one on the Upper East Side. I think that Ridgewood kind of needs something. Crown Heights. They all need it,” she says.
In fact, she has big plans for Derby Cup Coffee. “One day, if I open 10 of these, maybe I’ll have a horse.” Bet.
