A new modular from Andrew Tate is always a treat as this master of minifig-scale architecture has a knack for builds that sweep you away to a specific time or place. His latest model, Cafe CoCo, captures the timeless and unhurried aesthetic of a European old town street corner that could just as easily be in Paris, Vienna, or Prague, fifty years ago or today. I can practically taste the Aperol spritz. The dark-stained wooden facade on the ground floor provides warmth and old-world charm against the tan stone building. Andrew packs the model with fun details and techniques, like the lamps held aloft on black hot dogs, or the pot snaking plants made from actual rattlesnakes. For the stone sidewalks, Andrew uses masonry bricks laid flat, a great technique that conveys the texture of paving stones without visual noise to distract from the scene above.

Andrew “Snaillad” Tate says he builds at a snail’s pace, but over time he’s built an “>impressive body of LEGO creations that are always worth a revisit.