Coffee, European Treats, Art Draw Crowds To 2D Cafe For Selfies, More

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — 2D Cafe in St. Petersburg is a new cafe that serves coffee, wine, European delicacies — and it's a big piece of art from the floor to the ceiling that has customers posing for selfies.

For the four women who launched the business, what started as a brief mention on a double date about wanting to open a cafe and one of them seeing a two-dimensional art design in Forbes magazine sprung to fruition as the newly opened 2D Cafe in St. Petersburg.

The cafe's two-dimensional black and white artwork, created by Chad Mize, covers the inside from floor to ceiling. Mize said it feels optical and to see everything in black and white is a trip.

"We worked on it over the course of a month-and-a-half," Mize told Patch. "Andrea Pawliz assisted. She helped me do a lot of the linework. I painted all of the walls, and the owners actually painted the furniture."

Forbes said the cafes look like 2D cartoons. They became popular in Asia about five years ago, and in the U.S. about two years ago.

2D's slogan goes with its design — "be the art".

2D General Manager Alex Campebell told Patch she connected with the owners, Maria Merello and Maria Kyriakidou, a married couple, through her partner, Amanda, who is a fifth-grade teacher where Kyriakidou also teaches.

"We had talked about hanging out, and when we did, we ended up spending four hours just chatting and drinking wine and enjoying appetizers," Campbell said. "The Marias are really well-traveled and they were intriguing to talk to. I was working in insurance at the time, and I remember telling them I always had a dream of opening up a bar cafe. And Maria (Kyriakidou) had been working in finance in Ybor City for seven years, but it wasn't her end goal."

Kyriakidou is from Greece and Merello is from Uruguay. They have lived in Clearwater for the past few years.

A few years later, after forming a friendship with Campbell, the Marias shared with her the idea for 2D Cafe. The couple had seen the 2D designs on cafes in Japan and Korea featured in a Forbes' article.

"We just dove in and grabbed the bull by the horns," Campbell said. "We closed on this location at the end of December. We started the process Jan. 3 and we've been going heavy ever since."

2D opened Friday on Central Avenue at the former Swah-Rey location. A Patch reporter observed guests taking photos, selfies and videos in front of the artwork for social media. More people than expected on the first weekend open showed up to support 2D. The cafe closed an hour early Sunday after serving all its food.

Coffee, espresso drinks, wine, craft beer from Green Bench Brewery, European pastries and more are available at 2D Cafe. It is open Wednesday-Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. For more information about 2D, 2105 Central Avenue, St. Pete, visit its Facebook page.