Los Angeles' Kindness + Mischief Has Closed Its Doors, But Something New Is on the Horizon
After deciding to permanently close her coffee shop, Mo Maravilla shares reflections on her time at K+M and the new things that are brewing.
BY MELINA DEVONEY
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos by Melina Devoney
We featured Mo Maravilla and her Los Angeles coffee shop, Kindness and Mischief (K+M), in our Aug + Sept 2025 print issue. Today, we’re hearing from Mo on her recent decision to permanently shut down her shop—and what’s next for her on her coffee journey.
We tend to lament the closing of small local businesses, but K+M founder Mo Maravilla says that the end was something to celebrate this time. And man, was the party huge; a line of eager customers wrapped around the block the entirety of K+M’s last day of service on November 1, 2025.
I debriefed with Mo two weeks after permanently shutting the doors of K+M.
Making a Tough Decision
Even though “Long Weekend” (a strategy to keep K+M afloat by cutting operating hours) was working, Mo knew it was time to close the book on K+M. Even with a manageable four-day schedule and more stable cash flow, the daily bumps of owning a business started to feel like mountains Mo no longer wanted to climb.
She loved slinging drinks nonstop behind the bar, but 10 years of all the work behind the desk took a toll on her. “I’m tired, I’m not gonna lie,” Mo says. “The burnout was happening and I didn’t want it to turn into resentment.”
The very hub of connection that Mo dreamed of creating worked out too well—daily café operations got in the way of connecting with her customers.
“I don’t find as much meaning in being a ‘latte factory.’ I find meaning in my community in those moments between drinks where I love connecting with you,” she told Barista Magazine.
K+M was everything Mo once wished for, and now she’s wishing for something else. She was itching for a creative outlet greater than rotating seasonal drinks, and to share her passion with customers in a format that wasn’t constantly at odds with making rent.
So, she shuttered K+M, in all its glory, before it became a shell of itself.
“I’m so privileged and lucky that it was my choice (to close),” Mo says. “I have felt zero sadness about any of this, which is crazy and beautiful. … I’ve only felt gratitude and joy and, honestly, relief.”
Waking up from a full night of sleep after K+M’s last day was the first time Mo felt truly rested in a decade.
A Practice of Letting Go
Mo reflected on how much she’s grown since signing the lease for K+M.
“No one’s ever expected to stay the same person after 10 plus years. But I think small businesses are treated in such a different fashion because people hold them so dearly and with such beloved nostalgia that it’s hard to see them change,” she says.
Mo felt obligated to keep trucking even when she was running on empty. “I kept going because I love my team and my community so dearly and fiercely,” she says. “At some point you’re like, wait—I’m only going for them and I’m no longer filling up any of my own cup.”
More signs pointed her in this direction: Rikki Chavez, K+M’s coffee lead, embarked on a sonographer degree and Phoenix Canela, K+M’s floor manager, went full force into her coffee pop-up Revolve.
“I think this is partly the universe being like, ‘Mo, everyone is evolving and it’s time for you to accept it,’” she says.
Acceptance gave Mo a sense of alignment and accomplishment.
“I have fulfilled so many goals of my life from that shop and my life is so amazing ’cause of it,” Mo says. “I realized that I was dreaming up things that were different from what the shop could give me.”
The only dream Mo is “pissed” she couldn’t realize was—like most small U.S. businesses—providing enough financial security and employer-provided healthcare benefits to support career teammates, from baristas to co-roasters.
Protecting K+M’s Legacy
Mo felt protective of the café space and its legacy. In her last stand to serve the decade-old K+M community, Mo refused to let the lease go to a large chain or developer. Knowing that two of her longtime employees, Arnold Basingat (K+M chef) and Sian Balauag (K+M barista and owner of plant business Urban Tropicals), each dreamed of opening a brick-and-mortar, Mo hatched a plan before the “vultures” descended upon K+M.
“I need to do everything in my power to make sure this space goes to someone good,” Mo told herself, disregarding, for one last time, her resolution to maintain healthy work-life boundaries.
She offered the space to Sian and Arnold before announcing K+M’s closure publicly. With tears in their eyes, they accepted. They combined their passions into the Filipino-American boutique & café, Kuyas, which will open in January. They’ll serve coffee that Mo continues to roast under her new brand, Studio Tigre.
Mo’s Next Chapter: Studio Tigre
A launchpad for Mo’s next endeavor serendipitously emerged when a regular at K+M closed down his workshop in an East LA studio complex. He offered Mo the keys last January, and she has been furiously remodeling it into Studio Tigre ever since.
The studio will be Mo’s space for teaching coffee classes and offering coffee omakase. With events and merch already up her sleeve, Mo is honing her omakase menu for launch this winter.
“I have so many fun ideas that I want to do, but could never be done in service ’cause that’s just too crazy. Studio Tigre is gonna give me that opportunity,” she says.
Mo will serve, slowly and intentionally, a multi-course menu featuring coffee roasted by herself and other roasters, and food pairings created by Arnold. She’ll have time to talk with each guest and tell the story behind each cup. With only eight seats by reservation only, the studio will be an intimate curated experience.
She’ll highlight Filipino and Southeast Asian flavors in her recipes and serve them in ways that make her “tickled and delighted.”
“I really wanna play with textures and fun dualities, like kindness and mischief,” Mo says.
At Studio Tigre, Mo will also live out her passion for coffee education. She’ll welcome people of all experience levels—from the coffee-curious to seasoned baristas—so long as “their curiosity is on fire,” Mo says.
She aims to foster an environment where everyone is level with each other, and free from forms of gatekeeping she faced when learning to roast. “Doors were getting shut in my face,” she says. Plus, coffee education was prohibitively expensive: a barrier that disproportionately affects marginalized groups.
“Everything that is me—and was K+M—is about accessibility. I’ve always tried to make everything feel warm and welcoming despite where you’re coming from,” Mo adds.
Mo shares that she’ll offer more affordable coffee basics and roasting classes to a handful of students at a time. “The other classes that I’ve seen, it’s so hard to get personal time to get super hands-on,” she says. “And they’re in the range of around $5k! How many baristas can afford that?” She says she’ll also ensure that students can ask questions, and put their nose to the tasting cup and their eye to the sight glass.
Outside of the classroom, Mo rebranded the K+M coffee cart for pop-ups and is planning consultation services. “I’m gonna help other small businesses make their dreams come true,” Mo says. “I love that shit, that’s my jam.”
On December 7, 2025, Studio Tigre and Kuyas debuted for a preview day in their new shop, which was packed with K+M’s past regulars and a budding new community. Follow Studio Tigre and Kuyas on Instagram for more updates.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Subscribe and More!
As always, you can read Barista Magazine in paper by subscribing or ordering an issue.
Support Barista Magazine with a Membership.
Signup for our weekly newsletter.
Read the December 2025 + January 2026 Issue for free with our digital edition.
Source: Barista Magazine