Customers can get a traditional Italian shave and coffee under one roof at Somerville’s Razors Barbershop, which a few months ago welcomed New Leaf Espresso to a space inside the shop.
New Leaf’s proprietors are Andrew DeBenedictus and Eoin Jaquith, co-workers at the 1369 Coffee House in Inman Square planned in August to open a coffee shop as part of a five-year plan – until Jaquith came across an online listing in October looking for someone to run a coffee shop inside of a barbershop. They opened two months later.
New Leaf Espresso opened inside Razors Barbershop after just a few phone calls and the adding of tables to a ready-to-open cafe space, Jaquith said.
Razors hosted Peabody-based Capito Coffee at its espresso bar from 2021 to 2022, according to The Somerville Times. After Capito’s exit, Razors’ staff kept the coffee brewing for barbershop customers and passersby.
The coffee bar “is now in the hands of the pros,” the Razors Barbershop website states.
The barbershop was founded in 2004 by brothers Anthony and Joe Berriola at 308 Highland Ave.; they opened a second location in East Cambridge at 389 Cambridge St. in 2021. The Berriolas did not respond to requests for comment.
The model of having two businesses in one storefront – though New Leaf is technically at 310 Highland Ave. – has been good for both, the coffee shop owners said. Razors clients buy a drink after a haircut and are becoming New Leaf regulars; New Leaf customers are starting to get their haircuts at Razors.
“The price of physical space to operate in or to live in is so out of control in this area,” DeBenedictis said. “It would not have been feasible for us in any capacity to open on the budget that we did, in the time that we did, without having such a good deal” with the Berriolas.
“Part of our goal originally was to be the coffee shop that people with our type of job could afford.” Jaquith said. In addition to inheriting a space that didn’t need a rehab or come with burdensome leasing needs, “we’ve been able to do that by embracing the cooperative model” benefiting all members equally. DeBenedictis called New Leaf is “a very worker- and community-focused business.”
New Leaf’s products are hyperlocal, supplied by Cambridge’s Broadsheet Coffee Roasters and Davis Square’s Mem Tea, with croissants and biscotti from Watertown’s Danish Pastry House.
From the takeout window or the espresso bar, New Leaf serves “great coffee for a reasonable price in a cool location,” Jaquith said.
With summer approaching, the New Leaf crew recommends its fresh-squeezed lemonade, Italian soda and San Francisco mint cold brew. (A new summer drink was teased, but not ready to be announced.)
Beyond coffee and pastries, New Leaf serves up free entertainment. From 2016 to 2023, Razors hosted a Fresh Cut Concert series. New Leaf revived live performances in the space recently, bringing in musicians each Sunday without charging a cover.
For the first months of performances, New Leaf hosted only singer-songwriters and open mics, but comedians may be added as soon as June. Jaquith and DeBenedictis plan to also open for late-nights and host art and print swaps.
A stronger
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