In Conversation With Now And Then

Now And Then is anything but your typical coffee shop. Designed to be calm, intimate, and deliberately unhurried, it offers an  unrivaled experience that reimagines what a café can be. With just ten seats, no reservations, and a firm no to laptops and phone calls, every detail reflects a clear intention: to create a space where presence matters more than productivity.

We recently had the opportunity to visit the café and speak with the team about the importance of slowing down, the elements that make the café more than just a place for coffee, and much more. Though we arrived midday and had to wait for a seat at the bar—as expected—the experience was well worth it.

edmond phillips

now and then

Now And Then is anything but a traditional coffee shop experience. It’s calm, slow paced, it’s intimate, it’s one of a kind. In an industry that thrives on speed fast, why slow down? 

Because for us, we felt that we needed to. The industry we both came up in was built on volume and speed, and hospitality often gets flattened into a transaction. We’ve watched too many good people burn out trying to meet unrealistic expectations for speed, output, and performance. Unfortunately, it feels like it happens a lot in the coffee industry. 

But the biggest reason is that we knew from the beginning we didn’t want to replicate the standard café model. It has its place, but it wasn’t built for how we wanted to serve people. Slowness is a design choice rooted in our deep love for hospitality. It’s our way of creating an alternative rhythm in the industry.

For us, the slowness gives people time to notice all the small details and care put into our service. We hear a lot of guests say you can feel the energy in the room and that’s the magic. That’s what makes Now And Then what it is. 

I see. You were intentional on not replicating the standard café model. So many of your choices—just ten seats, no reservations, no laptops, no phone calls—intentionally turn the typical idea of a modern café on its head. What’s the philosophy behind the shop rules, and how do they shape the kind of experience you want people to have?

It goes back to slowness. We don’t allow laptops or tablets in the space, and we ask guests to step away for phone calls because we want people to participate in presentness while they’re here and for the experience to be as distraction free as possible. 

It’s an opportunity for people to practice mindfulness, especially in a world that’s trained us to multitask constantly. Everything today is designed to fight for our attention, and often, people aren’t given the chance to disconnect.

That's what I love about you guys. It's not just about the coffee—but the experience. Since you all opened up the first pop up in Bar C, it was clear to me that while this is a coffee shop, the experience goes above & beyond just coffee. You both know I’m not even a coffee drinker, yet I kept coming back—for the music, the conversation, the design, the energy. How do those non-coffee elements shape the Now & Then experience? 

We’re always thinking about how we can tap into people’s senses—beyond just the coffee. We look at the stuff people don’t always consider “part of a coffee shop” and try to inject small details into it. Things like the records we play and how they make guests feel, or something as simple as the incense we burn. Everything plays a part in some way or another.

I feel like this attention to detail shows up in the type of person that frequents the café. It seems like the people who come in here just get it. Like 98% of us are cool, right? Who do you find naturally gravitates toward this space, and what kind of community are you hoping to build—intentionally or not?

The space seems to filter itself. If someone’s looking for speed, convenience, or a caffeine jolt before work, they’re probably not always going to vibe with what we’re doing and that’s okay! But the folks who stick around, who come back again and again, they tend to be the ones who feel it. We don’t try to please everyone, and we’re very clear about what we’re offering—which often attracts the right people.

The community that’s formed around Now And Then isn’t something we sat down and made a plan for and I don’t think you really can. It started forming the moment we decided to build a space that was unapologetically us. It tends to be creatives, whose work spans every field you could imagine. We get chefs, sensory scientists, painters, musicians, graphic designers, ceramists, photographers, furniture makers, the list goes on. We’re so incredibly thankful for this community that continues to support us.

Offering a new, niche experience in Nashville is a journey, let alone surviving as a business. Why do this here?

The move here wasn’t random, it was intentional. We came to Nashville to continue growing Now And Then. Before this, we were living in Florida, and with the vision we had, we knew we had to plant roots somewhere else. We wanted to be in a place with a bigger food and beverage scene, and that has more like-minded people.

Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in the States, with an equally as fast growing food and beverage scene. It just has that pocket-of-magic energy, if you know what I mean. It’s a city that straddles multiple worlds of new and old, traditional and experimental, Southern and global. That tension makes it fertile ground for creatives to thrive in. We love it here, and this city has shown us so much love. It’s welcomed us with open arms and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Aside from coffee, are there any other niche interests you’re equally passionate about?

We’re both very creative people with a bunch of different interests, but coffee is definitely where we focus most of our energy. And not just coffee as a beverage, but everything it encompasses. Things like hospitality, the preparation process, the storytelling aspect. All of that really draws us in.

We try to incorporate our other creative interests into Now And Then whenever we can. We both love photography, so we try to take photos during service when the moment allows. Textiles and sewing are also passions of ours, we actually made the drink mats at the bar by hand using sashiko, a Japanese method of mending fabric.

Lastly, design is something we both care deeply about, and it plays a big role in what we do. We designed pretty much everything ourselves, from the logo to the menu, and the website. We try to do as much of the creative work as we can.

What's your favorite record to play in the café right now?

It’s hard to pick just one favorite record so I’ll give you our top 3 right now, though it is ever changing. Nala Sinephro - Endlessness, Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green, and Ashra - New Age of Earth. Some other honorable mentions would be Hiroshi Suzuki - Cat, Floating Points - Promises, and Miles Davis - Kind of blue.