A café can be more than a place to get coffee. At Matter by Issy, it is also a space for trying unexpected combinations, exploring familiar Filipino flavors in new forms, and approaching the everyday café experience with a little more curiosity. Located along Legazpi Street in Makati, the café brings Issy’s creative identity into food and drinks, giving its philosophy of self-expression a different way to take shape.

Issy is a Filipino makeup and beauty brand founded in 2019, known for its emphasis on individuality and its “take up space” message. With Matter, that philosophy moves beyond beauty products and into a physical space where creativity can extend to what people eat, drink, and experience. The café is part of a larger standalone concept that combines food and coffee with Issy’s beauty retail space, but its menu gives the place a distinct identity of its own.

Photo By: Coffee Architect

The menu is divided into three sections: Classics, Signatures, and Experiments. The first two offer familiar café options and house specialties, while Experiments is where Matter’s personality becomes more apparent. Rather than relying entirely on conventional coffee-shop combinations, the section plays with ingredients, textures, and flavors that invite customers to approach the menu with an open mind.

Take Experiment No. 002: Strange Pairing, which brings together a chocolate cookie, strawberry jam, blue cheese, and prosciutto. Sweet, salty, and savory elements come together in a combination that challenges what people might expect from a café pastry. Meanwhile, Experiment No. 004: Manila, Two Seasons draws inspiration from two familiar Filipino experiences: the flavors of puto bumbong and the refreshing street coolers associated with summer. The result is a layered drink that translates those references into a different café experience.

These creations offer a clearer picture of how Issy’s values find their way into the café. Self-expression is not limited to the beauty products the brand sells; it can also mean making room for ideas that challenge familiar expectations. At Matter, that comes through in a menu that gives experimentation a place alongside more recognizable offerings. Customers can stick to what they know or try something that feels entirely different.

The same thinking extends to the space itself. Designed by DAS Lab, Matter was developed to accommodate pop-ups and activations alongside its regular café and retail offerings. This flexibility allows the space to serve as more than a fixed commercial setting, leaving room for creative collaborations and new ideas to take shape.

For Issy, whose identity has long encouraged people to take up space, Matter offers a way to put that message into practice beyond makeup. The café gives the philosophy a different expression: not through a shade range or a beauty product, but through a place where food, drinks, design, and creative exploration can coexist.

Ultimately, what makes Matter interesting is not simply that a beauty brand has opened a café. It is how the café translates the brand’s creative outlook into something people can experience for themselves, one drink or unexpected pairing at a time.

Matter by Issy is located at 149 Legazpi Street, Makati City.