On National Coffee Day, many Brooklynites will grab their morning cup from a beloved café or neighborhood cart. But in Brooklyn Heights, one new business is serving up more than caffeine. Laundry and Latte, a laundromat-coffee shop hybrid, is transforming an everyday chore into a community ritual.
For owner Jean-Roch Dumas, the concept grew out of a desire to turn something routine into something meaningful. After working for 20 years in management consulting for a top finance company, he decided he needed something “a bit more tangible.”
“I wanted to have client interaction, and use what I’ve learned to make it something real,” he told Brooklyn Paper.
Dumas, who moved to New York from France 13 years ago, said the idea of opening a laundromat came almost by accident.
“I had no passion at all to wash clothes, but I said, ‘Why not explore that?’ So, I started to look around and visited hundreds of laundromats,” he said. “I quickly realized that a lot of these places were dirty and not technology-enabled. So I saw a real opportunity to make a difference.”
But he knew laundry alone wasn’t enough. He decided to pair it with a lifelong ritual.
“During my time in Paris, I always loved coffee — I spent a lot of time in the morning having it, Dumas said. “The name also came naturally because it’s self-explanatory, right?”
After spotting the perfect laundromat just three blocks from his Brooklyn Heights home, Dumas negotiated with the previous owner and set to work. Laundry and Latte opened in March, with the coffee counter launching in May. The space is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Choosing the right beans was essential, so he partnered with Bushwick-based specialty roaster Loveless Coffees.
“I wanted a roaster in Brooklyn, so I talked to a lot of people in the coffee industry, and Loveless stood out to me,” he said. “I didn’t want a place that is just a random coffee.”
The result is a simple but carefully crafted menu, designed to be approachable for laundry customers and serious coffee drinkers alike. Options include coffee, lattes, matcha and more.
Dumas said some locals were initially hesitant to see the laundromat change, but later leaned on design to bridge the gap. A circular bench at the entrance encourages conversation and community.
That sense of togetherness is central to his vision.
“In France, I was always sitting at a coffee bar. You always had people next to you engaging in discussion and that’s really what I wanted to recreate.”
Brooklyn Heights, he added, was the ideal setting.
“It’s a real community. This is something that potentially, in other parts of Brooklyn, wouldn’t work.”
The neighborhood also reminds him of the small village in France where he’s from, making his concept feel like a natural fit.
For those looking for a unique way to spend National Coffee Day, Dumas said Laundry and Latte offers both convenience and connection.
“Laundry and Latte is a new, innovative laundromat with the latest technology,” and the “best coffee in Brooklyn,” he said. “It’s just a place to hang out, meet people and get to know us.”
