How to Host a Coffee Shop at Home
Aka a guide to hosting a small gathering (my Gilmore Girl's themed Galentines) as well as the recipes that will leave everyone wanting more
For Galentine’s this year, I turned my home into a Luke’s Diner-themed café, complete with baked goods, fun drinks, and even a little DIY card-making station. It was the perfect excuse for a festive, wholesome get together. Not to mention I’ll take literally any reason to drink lots of coffee!
In this newsletter I dive into all it entailed —including everything I bought (on a budget!), the recipes I made, and my best tips for hosting your own café at home :)
P.S. If hosting isn’t your thing, stay tuned for Thursday’s newsletter—I’ll be sharing an easy, healthy Valentine’s dinner you can make!
The Details
#1). The Theme
You definitely don’t need a theme other than coffee shop vibes, but I love any chance I get to use one. Plus, I find it easier to buy with intention when I have a theme.
For this coffee shop, my goal was to make it feel like Luke’s Diner from Gilmore Girl’s but with a splash of pink for Galentines. Having a theme also made it so easy to decide what drinks to offer and what food to make!
#2). The Supplies
I mainly used what I had on hand to make this event budget-friendly, but I did pick up a few supplies at the thrift store, Home Goods and Target!
✔️ Coffee cups, lids & straws – I picked up a pack of to-go coffee cups and to-go boxes from Home Goods for around $10.00 so my friends could take their drinks and snacks with them. I also had glasses from my kitchen for water or for those who knew they would finish their drink before they left.
✔️ Small plates & napkins – For the food, I picked up some Valentine’s themed paper plates from Target for $3.00 and already had some napkins on hand. I also used my own silverware since most of the food was finger food.
✔️ Valentine’s themed decor – I picked up a Valentine’s heart banner from Target for $3.00 and thrifted a tea pot to use as a flower vase for $1.00. I also picked up 2 bouquets from Trader Joe’s for $3.99 each.
✔️ Groceries — The main cost was for the groceries, but for the coffee and matcha I had pretty much everything on hand. I picked up a creamer and additional non-dairy milk for those who don’t use oat milk - which was about $5.00. And then groceries wise I picked up berries (by far the most expensive part of this lol), dairy-free cream cheese, jelly, vegan heavy whipping cream, a Valentine’s themed snack (the heart crisps from Trader Joe’s) and cane sugar which was a little less than $20.00.
Other than that I used cardboard I had on hand for the menu, no cell phones sign (a Gilmore Girl’s reference) and no boys sign (since it was Galentines!). And, to display the food I used my cutting board, a pink plate, and a cake stand. Plus, the DIY card station was created because I had leftover card-making materials that I hadn’t used.
And that was it! Bringing my total spend for the event to under $50.00. I definitely recommend using what you have on hand to inspire the theme and food choices. It makes it a lot easier & a lot less expensive!
#3). The Food Menu
For the food I wanted to serve classic baked goods that Luke’s Diner would serve in Gilmore Girls. So, here’s what I settled on:
🥯 Sourdough bagels – Because all coffee shops need a really good bagel! I used this recipe so that I could repurpose my sourdough discard, but used all-purpose flour instead of bread flour. 10/10 recommend! I made 4 plain, 3 everything, and 3 sesame. And to do a vegan ‘egg wash’ I just mixed together a tsp of agave and 1-2 tbsps of water.
🫐 Blueberry muffins – A Luke’s Diner staple - I was inspired by this recipe but topped them with a crumble made from cinnamon, flour, melted vegan butter, and cane sugar (also on the cake tray with the muffins is vegan cake I had leftover from a friend’s birthday!).
🍓 Homemade pop tarts – A classic Gilmore Girl’s treat - I used this recipe for the pop tart base, filled them with strawberry jelly, and topped them with a simple icing recipe that was 1/3 cup powdered sugar and 2-3 tsps vegan heavy cream.
🍞 Fresh sourdough – Not necessarily typically served at Luke’s but I take any excuse to bake a fresh sourdough loaf. My go-to recipe is the Crusty Boule from this cookbook.
And, if you’re hosting your own coffee shop and don’t want to bake everything, no shame in picking up some pastries from your favorite local bakery or Trader Joe’s!
#4). The Drinks Menu
Instead of pre-making drinks, I had everyone “order” off the menu and made them fresh! Personally, I enjoy just being behind the counter making drinks while my friends chat, but if it’s not your thing you could definitely pre-make drinks or have friends help you!
Since this was Luke’s Diner based and he doesn’t serve anything super fancy, I did keep it pretty basic(ish).
Brown Sugar Iced Coffee – Espresso, brown sugar creamer, and oat milk.
Vanilla Cold Foam – Vegan heavy whipping cream frothed with a bit of agave and vanilla extract and poured over iced coffee.
Vanilla Latte – Espresso, oat milk, vanilla extract, and agave.
Vanilla Matcha – Matcha, oat milk, vanilla extract and agave.
Hot Chocolate – Since it is winter after all and I wanted to have one non-caffeinated item on the menu.
If you’re hosting, keeping the menu small but customizable makes things fun and without being overwhelming.
#5). Optional Extras
Since it was Galentine’s, I added a little DIY card-making station with blank cards, markers, and stickers. It was a simple but fun way to add an activity to the morning in case anyone wanted to take a break from chatting!
I also put on a Gilmore Girl’s inspired soundtrack and had the first season playing on my tv (muted).
And then I printed out little Luke’s logos to stick on the to-go coffee cups for an added touch. I also had to-go boxes in case anyone wanted to bring any snacks with them.
And that’s everything on how I hosted my at-home coffee shop! Hopefully this inspired you to host one too :)
xoxo,
Natalie