Makers & Dreamers | Kopitiam

Kopitiam means coffee shop. Kopi means coffee, tiam means shop.

Coffee shops in Malaysia serve as a place that your family will hang out for generations. So we would like to bring this kind of scene to New York City.

I'm Kio Pang.

I'm the owner-chef at Kopitiam.

Hi, I'm Melan Tai. I'm co-owner of Kopitiam. My girlfriend and I, we traveled to New York, and then We would visit her shop all the time. Then one day we found out she was closing down, and we're like, no, you can't close! So then we got to talking, and it was the quickest relationship ever, and we decided to go for it. So within that month, we signed a partnership agreement, a leasing agreement, got the space, started renovation, and then within 5 months, I moved from San Diego to New York. And then 2 months after that, we opened.

We try to stay as original. I think for a lot of businesses, from time to time, people grow and they forgot who they were, So for Kopitiam, we try to stay as original as possible.

But also maintaining that authenticity of when we first opened, the ethos of what we started off with. Being a community space, having it still being very accessible for anyone that lives there, really. Promoting Malaysian culture and Malaysian cuisine. It's a very underrepresented cuisine.

Well, we call each other twins. So we are exactly like the other half of whatever I'm not, she is. Whatever she's not, I am. I think it's the best partnership I ever had.

I feel like all of 2019 has been— it's been a whirlwind in the best way possible. We've been very, very lucky and blessed with the accolades that we've gotten this year.

Kopitiam should be a place where you feel like you're going home. The same spots, no matter how far you move, you always want to come back. Kopitiam should be a place where you feel like you're going home. The same spots, no matter how far you move, you always want to come back.