Bluestone Lane Brews Aussie-Style Coffee in Studio City

The specialty coffee business is booming, as evidenced by the sale of a majority stake in Blue Bottle to Nestle for $425 million and the L.A. arrival of prominent brands like Philz Coffee and La Colombe. That piping hot trend has spilled into the Valley. First Studio City got the Aussie-run Red Window and Alfred Coffee. Now there’s a newcomer to the scene: Bluestone Lane.

Melbourne native Nicholas James Stone started Bluestone Lane in 2013, naming the business for Melbourne’s famed blue cobblestone lanes. The experienced financier already runs more than a dozen cafés in the New York City and Philadelphia metro areas, plus a pair of San Francisco locations.

Bluestone Lane roasts their coffee beans in New York City and brews the majority of their beverages on a La Marzocco espresso machine. Their menu lists plenty of recognizable coffee drinks but incorporates some uniquely Aussie lingo. Flat white is a cousin to the latte with micro-foamed milk. Magic is a riff on the cortado with a bit less milk. Long black is their take on an Americano, combining espresso and hot water. Aussie iced latte incorporates ice cream in addition to milk.

Bluestone Lane serves Sugarbloom Bakery pastries plus toast. Yes, they serve a version with vegemite—the notorious Australian spread made with vegetables, spices and brewer’s yeast extract immortalized in the Men At Work song “Down Under.”

The stylish space—previously a branch of Juice Served Here—features a marble bar, concrete banquette framed with a geometric wood slat wall, and patio with teal tables and blue umbrella. Considering the rise of culinary interest in the Valley, more specialty coffee bars are bound to follow Bluestone Lane to the Boulevard.

12186 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, 718-374-6858