Rooted in Tacoma: Richlite x Third Space Café
Community, connection, and coffee. Since opening in downtown Tacoma, Third Space has welcomed locals into a warm, creative space to gather and stay awhile.
For Richlite, Third Space is more than a neighborhood café, it’s a local partnership rooted in community, thoughtful design, and making things with care. Located near our manufacturing plant, the café gave us an opportunity to bring our locally crafted, sustainable Culinary Surfaces into the space.
Bringing Richlite Into the Kitchen
In October 2025, our team had the opportunity to work with Third Space owner Kevin Lee to take a closer look at the café’s back-of-house kitchen. Together, we explored how Richlite Culinary Surfaces could bring a custom look and a more sustainable alternative to the kitchen’s everyday prep surfaces.
Made with FSC-certified paper, our back-of-house prep surfaces are designed to be knife-safe, commercial-dishwasher-safe, and non-porous for easy cleaning and food preparation. Built for high-traffic environments, they’ve been tested in prep kitchens to last 3–5 times longer than a typical poly cutting board. And they’re 100% microplastic-free, keeping particles away from your food and your mouth.
For Third Space, these surfaces became more than a kitchen necessity. They brought a distinctly Richlite material into the daily rhythm of the café, where ingredients are prepped, dishes are created, and people gather to enjoy them. It was a simple but meaningful way to support a new local business.
A Collaboration Built Around Layers
Our collaboration with Third Space didn’t stop in the kitchen.
As our local relationship continued to grow, we were honored to collaborate with Kevin on a limited-time sandwich for the café’s August 2026 menu. The creation featured layers of fresh ingredients, including a freshly made biscuit, avocado, egg, pepper jack cheese, crispy bacon, and hot honey. The sandwich was inspired by Richlite itself: layer upon layer of paper, thoughtfully crafted with care and honest work. Two very different creations, both made in Tacoma.
The collaboration also gave us an opportunity to check in on our composite surfaces after a full year of daily use in Third Space’s commercial kitchen. We wanted to see how the material was performing over time and, most importantly, hear directly from the team about their experience with Richlite.
“The quality and craftsmanship stands out the most. Using the board every single day for over a year now and it still looks and feels great. It’s easy to clean and doesn’t leave any weird odors or stains. You can really feel the care that went into making the product.” - Kevin, Third Space Owner
A Shared Love for Community
For Kevin, cafés have always been about more than coffee and food. Growing up around his family’s cafés, he saw firsthand how these spaces bring people together. When he opened Third Space in June 2025, he set out to create a place beyond home and work where people could gather and relax. As we followed Kevin’s business journey from start-to-finish, we wanted to find a meaningful way to support his new space, and our collaboration on the kitchen surfaces was a natural place to start.
Made in Tacoma, Built for Community
We’re grateful to be part of Third Space’s journey and to support the creativity and community they’ve brought to Tacoma. For us, partnerships like this connect what we make with the people and places around us, from the surfaces we prepare food on to the food we share around the table.
Here’s to more community, more connection, and more reasons to stay awhile.