Exposed pipes, highfalutin menu written on chalkboards, uncomfortable mismatched seats, and overpriced coffee–the rise of the hipster cafés never seems to end. It’s hard to find a really nice place without getting bothered by minimal interiors or overtly contrived “hipster coffee culture” when you just want your caffeine fix.
“A café job is not complicated,” Poetry House owner and operator Yunjae Hwang says as he makes a cup of Americano, “Do you know how to make a latté? It’s very simple.” Unlike many commercial coffee shops, Hwang’s café lies deep in the outskirts of Jeonju, where you’ll have to drive past expansive rice fields until you see the tall, narrow, brick-lined building standing there alone like a misplaced structure. The location is as interesting as the story behind it. “The original plan was to build a place in memory of my [departed] mother,” Hwang says. And if you look at the narrowness of the building, it is actually shaped like a slightly open book, hence its name. You can feel a sense of calm and nostalgia when you go inside the Poetry House, from the carpentry tools displayed on the walls, the clean, white paint, succulent plants, and of course, the poetry books that line every corner.
The place is built around Hwang’s passions: poetry, wine, plants, and his mom. Hwang used to work as a seaman and traveled in far places around the world, scouring for great tasting wine on the side. The café serves as a space for wine tasting classes, poetry reading, and bottled plant making. Hwang encourages people to make creative use of used bottles by putting plants or succulents in them, sell them and donate the proceeds of the finished products to charity.
So if you’re feeling a little wistful, Poetry House is the place where you can step back from a fast-paced life, listen to the quiet rhythms, and perhaps all your troubles will be forgotten by the smell of coffee, some rhymes and perhaps a sip of wine.
Address: 전라북도 전주시 완산구 중평길 18-36
18-36, Jungpyeong-gil, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do,
Contact number: 010-7640-8787
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poetryzip/
***Published in Groove Korea Magazine
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