A new Highlandtown shop that combines love of coffee, Kawaii crafts, and claw machines had its soft opening was this weekend.
Kawaii Vida is a Kawaii craft studio and latte bar upstairs, and claw machine haven downstairs. They sell phone cases, mirrors, hairclips, claw clips, brushes, and custom items (arranged in advance) customers can decorate using deco cream, gems, charms, and more.
Owners Valerie Nunez and Muhammad Sawwan have renovated a once-vacant space at 430 S. Highland Avenue with the help of a Project Restore Highlandtown grant and the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. After traveling in Japan, Nunez and Sawwan, who are married, wanted to capture and share their experience and love of the Kawaii culture by opening this shop.
The studio has other artistic activities available, including diamond painting and paint-by-number, both of which have customers leaving with their artwork that same day or evening. Walk-ins are welcome, and no experience is necessary for any of the crafts.
Kawaii is a term from Japanese pop culture that embodies cuteness, youthful innocence, warmth, and playfulness. Kawaii characters often have round faces, large eyes, tiny noses (if they have noses at all), and bright or pastel colors. If drawn in 2D, they often have thick black outlines. The most famous Kawaii character is Hello Kitty.
Kawaii Vida is also a gift shop selling plushies, blind boxes with mystery collectibles, anime figures, Korean and Japanese snacks, and more.
As for the lattes, there are seven flavors on the menu, each available in espresso or matcha varieties. Choose from The Simple, Tres Leches, Horchata, and more. There is a dessert menu that includes Tres Leches cake and Kawaii macarons, and the website indicates a more extensive dessert menu is on the way. They also plan to offer online ordering so customers can order their drinks in advance and have them ready when they arrive to craft in the studio or take their drinks to go.
For updates on hours and their official opening, follow their Instagram account.
