With a calming beige color scheme, and natural light and warm sea breezes spilling through the front door, Swallow (IG) offers a Mediterranean coffee oasis in Alicante, Spain.
A quality-focused specialty coffee shop that also sells houseplants, Swallow is the creation of partners Gregoris Loizou and Laura Deetman. The two originally met at a co-working space in London (UK), bonding over a shared sense of career burnout.
During the 2020 COVID-19 era, the two packed up and lived in both Cyprus, where Loizou is from, and Alicante, where Deetman has family.
“We got tired of the travel life and realized we needed a base,” Loizou recently told DCN.
Deetman added, “[That] opened opportunities for us. Pricing-wise, with the amount of money needed to have a deposit in London, you can buy a house here. It even made this shop possible.”
The cozy shop is now offering a range of drinks made with coffees roasted by Pamplona-based Amilka Lee, alongside selections of pastries, including miniature pistachio croissants, chocolate chip cookies and an orange rosemary cake.
The shop also carries a selection of houseplants, a decision that was inspired by Loizou’s personal journeys in trail running as a way to connect to nature and find peace.
The couple closed on the Alicante cafe space — formerly a dark, drab bar — in the middle of last summer, starting demolition the next day.
The night before opening, the small Swallow team was busy applying the finishing touches to the space when Virgilio Cabrero, the owner of another Alicante specialty coffee shop called Sip and Wonder, stopped by to offer his support. He ended up finishing a paint job on one of the walls.
“From day one, Virgilio was like whatever you need, let me know, and he’s stuck to his word,” said Loizou. “On opening day, he came here to have a coffee, and then he sent his staff here.”
Swallow’s own three-person barista staff visited local coffee shops as part of their training, while also discussing shared goals and ambitions. Loizou said he wants the shop, its customers and its staff to all feel part of a community, both within the shop and within the greater coffee scene in Alicante.
For the staff and the owners, the shop represents something new and full of promise.
“Swallows represent new beginnings — they come in spring,” said Loizou, pointing to a swallow tattoo on his arm that resembles the shop’s logo. “After the transition period from being burnt out to something new, I thought about Swallow being my new beginning.”
Swallow Specialty Coffee & Houseplants is now open at Pl. del Carmen, 13, 03002 Alicante, Spain. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here.
Jen Roberts Jen Roberts is a Paris, France-based writer and avid coffee drinker. She’s currently writing a book on women in coffee.
