QUENCH
Co-owners of Heirloom Brewshop, Chuan Tsay and Anna Phommavong
HONORING TRADITION Heirloom Brewshop makes thoughtful choices by IZA WOJCIECHOWSKA
W
hen husband and wife team Chuan Tsay and Anna Phommavong opened Heirloom last October, it was a culmination of a year’s-long dream for the couple. But it was also more than that: For them,
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photography by SMITH HARDY
opening a coffee shop was the perfect way to honor their Asian heritage and their families. Heirloom offers coffee, tea, sake cocktails and small plates in a serene setting in Raleigh’s Warehouse District. Inside, the atmosphere is cozy yet cool: A sloping wooden-slatted struc-
ture softens the industrial ceiling, and pastel-pink chairs warm the minimalist space. But despite being on-trend, nothing at Heirloom is arbitrary. Tsay, 32, and Phommavong, 29, have made sure that every dish, cocktail and design detail means something, is inspired by tradition and also speaks to them—and
