Popular coffee cart brings inventive sips to Phoenix wine bar

When Ty and Frederick Watson decided to take a summer hiatus from running their popular coffee cart, Stroll Coffee, they weren’t sure if they’d pick it back up. Between running the cart and working their other jobs, they were stretched too thin.

“In order to grow, we actually need to take a step back,” Ty recalls deciding over the summer. 

After some time away on the East Coast and field trips to their favorite local cafes and restaurants, the Watsons started to feel the itch to “scheme on a creative menu,” Frederick says. 

“We got our appetite back,” Ty adds. 

Stroll crafts traditional americanos and cappuccinos, but most fans line up for inventive drinks like ancho chile-spiked chai, green tea lattes with black sesame cold foam and clarified coffee crafted the same way bartenders make silky, crystal-clear tipples. 

The couple started Stroll from the carport of their central Phoenix home in late 2024. After a year popping up at spaces around the city, they leveled up to a residency at the midtown oasis, Dig It Gardens. 

Later this month, the duo will begin their new residency. Stroll is coming to Sauvage Wine Bar & Bottle Shop on Oct. 30.

What to expect at Stroll x Sauvage

Stroll isn’t the first coffee cart to set up inside the historic building on McDowell Road. The Helen Anderson House, an idyllic English cottage revival, operated as a cafe before it became a wine bar in 2023. Yet, it wasn’t long before the smell of fresh-brewed espresso filled the rooms of the open-plan house once again.

Harlem Coffee Co., a mobile cart led by Kendrick Jones, served coffee and matcha at Sauvage until April. The popular pop-up paid tribute to the Harlem Renaissance and brought people to the wine bar in the daytime to sip a cappuccino at the dining room community table or in a cushy vintage armchair. The Watsons were among them.

“We loved going to see Kenny at Harlem,” Ty says. “He was always so welcoming.”

Since Harlem ended its pop-up, Pure Bliss Coffee has served morning sips. The mobile coffee makers recently shared that they will leave Sauvage to focus on private events.

When Sauvage owner Chris Lingua learned the Watsons had left Dig It, he reached out. Lingua walks his dogs by the plant nursery each morning and had visited Stroll. The Watsons made an impression not only with their coffee but also with how they treated customers. 

“A lot of people can make good coffee, but to also be friendly and make you feel welcomed in,” Lingua says, “that’s so much more important to me than anything.”

Stroll will kick off its residency with weekend service, running Fridays through Sundays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Watsons hope to expand the pop-up to more days of the week as they settle into the space and bring on staff. They’re feeling some nerves stepping into a new place, but are also excited to move into the cozy home.

“It’s already built to be comfortable,” Ty says. 

Unlike most pop-ups that use disposable cups, when customers order coffee or matcha to sip at Sauvage, they’ll get a mug. It makes their mobile operation feel more like a traditional cafe and invites people to linger, Ty says.

The Watsons will bring back several of Stroll’s popular coffee and tea drinks for their opening menu, including their pepita miso caramel latte and remixed versions of other fan-favorite sips. Their sparkling matcha will now be made with fresh sudachi, a small Japanese citrus, and cucumber juice instead of soda.

They’ll debut a new clarified coffee, made using the bartending technique of milk-washing. Bars use this process to soften the harsh notes of a spirit and add a silky texture. Frederick learned bar skills working at spots around town, including the acclaimed Century Grand, and started experimenting with them in coffee.

“When we go and have a cocktail somewhere, we’re like, ‘How can we recreate this in coffee?’” Ty says.

The owners will also roll out seasonal sips that incorporate citrus, fig leaf and grains, like buckwheat or mesquite, which can add chocolate notes.

Incubating food and coffee in a wine bar

Over the past three years, Sauvage has become a frequent host of local pop-ups. Lingua describes Sauvage as an “incubator” for chefs through these residencies.

Some of those regulars have since leveled up to their own kitchens. Otra Pizzeria, a long-time weekly staple at the wine bar, is preparing to open its first restaurant in Phoenix’s Warehouse District. Two chefs from the popular pop-up Mas Amable now helm the kitchen at the popular downtown all-day cafe Matilda’s.

Having a home base makes a difference for nomadic hustlers like the Watsons. 

“In this economy, especially right now, shared spaces like that — that is the future,” Ty says.

Stroll joins a fresh rotation of options at Sauvage serving dinner or brunch, including Alita, Joon’s Butter, Wining Walrus and Sorelle, among others.

“Nothing ever gets stale,” Lingua says. “You can come here all the time, and there’s always something different.”

The Watsons have discussed opening a brick-and-mortar cafe in the future, and with Frederick’s background working at bars around the Valley, they’re considering a wine or cocktail component, too. 

“We have so many ideas,” Ty says.

Stroll Coffee

Opens Oct. 30
149 W. McDowell Road