中野コンセプトカフェ&バー*うさとぴあ*

tokyo has more specialty coffee per square kilometer than almost anywhere on earth, which makes the ones that develop genuine followings worth paying attention to. うさとぴあ sits on the second floor of a building in nakano 5-chome, a part of the city that runs quieter than shinjuku but still pulls people who know where they're going. the address puts you a little off the main nakano broadway circuit, which is probably part of why the place has the feel of somewhere you find rather than stumble into. its regulars are strongly attached, and that kind of loyalty in tokyo, where options are genuinely endless, doesn't come cheap. if you're in the area, the second floor is worth the climb, especially on a weekday afternoon when nakano's side streets are at their most unhurried.