Round K Comes Full Circle at Renovated New York Cafe

Daria Toptygina| August 18, 2026 At the Round K coffee bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. All images courtesy of Round K. More than a decade after Ockhyeon Byeon founded the independent coffee shopRound Kon Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the company has entered another chapter with a renovated cafe under its original founder. Byeon opened the original Round K at 99 Allen Street in 2015 before gaining national attention for aMatte Black Latte— made with espresso, cacao and coconut ash — in 2017. After that location closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a longtime employee carried the concept forward as Round K by Sol at 78 Canal Street. That shop closed last August, preceding a renovation, partnership transition and reopening under the original Round K name with Byeon again at the center of the business. The redesigned cafe puts the focus squarely on coffee and the experience of drinking it. An exposed brick wall behind the bar faces a plain white wall, leading into a subdued lounge area outfitted with oversized speakers and wavy artwork. “We want to be a simple and classic coffee shop,” Fung Cheung, a partner and marketing lead at Round K, recently told Daily Coffee News on behalf of Byeon. “Even though we kickstarted [a] trend with our Matte Black Latte back in 2017, we’ve come to realize what matters most is the coffee itself.” Round K currently sources green coffee throughCereza Coffee, which brings in coffees from Honduras, Colombia and other points of origin. Cheung said Round K also buys some seasonal lots through independent relationships, including a connection to a farm in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, through a longtime family friend of Byeon. “At Round K, every coffee we roast has to feel connected — to the farmer, to the importer, to our neighborhood, and to the

Daria Toptygina| August 18, 2026 At the Round K coffee bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

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