From Cobbler Shop to Coffee Shop: Neal Kaplan's Rise 'N Shine Story
Some coffee shops are just coffee shops. Rise 'N Shine Coffee Bar, tucked into Providence's Smith Hill neighborhood, is something closer to a restoration project you can order a latte in.
Owner Neal Kaplan came to Providence decades ago for graduate work at RISD, ended up renting a studio in a Smith Hill carriage house, and never really left — eventually buying that same building and spending years learning what it used to be. He talks with Alana and Nick about tracing the building's history through old phone books, discovering it had once been a shoe repair shop, and building a replica of Providence's original train station shoeshine stand as a nod to that history (and to his own great-grandfather, who was a cobbler).
The conversation covers the building's deeper past too, from its 1858 origins as a horse-and-buggy stable to its stretch as a WWII-era manufacturing site, and how Neal and his staff develop the cafe's menu together. It's a good listen for anyone curious about what's hiding behind an old Providence storefront, and a reason to check out a corner of the city that doesn't always get the attention it deserves.
Be sure to follow Rise N Shine on socials below:
@risenshinecoffeebar
Show Notes
00:01:51 — Introducing Neal Kaplan and Rise and Shine Coffee in Smith Hill
00:02:12 — Neal's path to Providence: RISD grad school and early art background
00:02:50 — Finding a studio in Smith Hill's old industrial complex in the early 1980s
00:03:44 — Still in the same building 45 years later
00:04:09 — From studio tenant to building owner to contractor
00:05:16 — First considering a cafe — and a feasibility study that said not to
00:06:29 — Building other Providence-area cafes first (Nitro Bar, Coffee Exchange, and more)
00:08:12 — Restoring the carriage house in 2020, timed with the pandemic
00:09:01 — Developing the name, interior concept, and menu
00:09:13 — Where "Rise and Shine" actually comes from
00:09:31 — Researching the building's past through decades-old phone books
00:10:27 — The building's manufacturing and WWII-era history
00:11:00 — Boarded up for 20 years after the highway went through
00:11:29 — Original architectural details preserved inside
00:11:57 — Built in 1858 as a horse-and-buggy stable
00:12:23 — The Christopher Dodge House next door
00:12:23 — The building's cobbler and shoe repair history
00:12:56 — Building a replica of the original train station shoeshine stand
00:14:31 — A favorite corner of the cafe
00:14:42 — How the creative drink menu comes together
00:15:03 — Monthly staff meetings and barista-driven recipe development
00:16:30 — Comparing barista craft to mixology
00:17:31 — Why Smith Hill deserves more attention
00:18:12 — How close the neighborhood really is to downtown
00:19:02 — The outdoor patio