Reserve Your Seat at Kensington’s New Gelato Shop

If all goes according to plan, Flow State CoffeeBar, the new coffee and gelato shop in Kensington, will open by the end of this week. Owners Melanie and Liz Diamond-Manlusoc and Maggie Lee are just waiting on final inspections.

Melanie Diamond-Manlusloc, a native of Detroit, is the acclaimed pastry chef and gelato maker behind Flow State’s sweets. She honed her craft in the kitchens of Michelin-starred Chicago restaurants before moving to Philly with wife Liz last year. They knew Lee, who’s from Philly originally and moved back, in Chicago. (Melanie said Philly “is like Detroit and Chicago’s love child.”)

The trio has been renovating a building at 2413 Frankford Avenue for the past year, turning it into Flow State. The about-to-open shop will sell coffee and tea, a small selection of café fare, and pastries, along with the gelato.

But it’s designed as more than a quick stop for caffeine and a Melanie-made cookie or scoop of small-batch gelato (or both — the baked goods are all offered a la mode). Lee and the Diamond-Manlusocs wanted to create the type of coffee shop where people feel comfortable bringing their laptops and settling in for a few hours of work, so they’ve set aside tables customers will be able to reserve ahead of time online for a fee. For $12, get a work space for three hours with access to high-speed Internet, unlimited drip coffee, and a pastry. The price goes up if you add fancier drinks or lunch. If you haven’t reserved and there’s an open spot, you can claim it when you get there.

Look for Flow State to start serving June 28, or thereabouts.

Kristine Muller

• Come to Flow State for the Gelato, Stay for the Skee-ball