From the newly opened La Tabla on Royal Palm Pointe, Santiago Ares checks the webcam on his iPhone to see what the surf conditions are at Sebastian Inlet while answering questions about what inspired the avid surfer and his corporate-inclined wife, Naomi, to open a coffee shop in Vero Beach.
After all, both of the 47-year-olds already have success in their respective careers. The Argentine-born Santiago, an impassioned collector of vintage items, owns his own motorcycle restoration and customization business, 32toOne, working on everything from antique motocross motorcycles to new Triumphs and Harley-Davidsons for clients all over the world. And wife Naomi is a managing partner of the Miami-based marketing communications firm, Dialogue, often on the road traveling for business.
“I was too much inside my shop and becoming a caveman,” Santiago explained of working in his garage.
Adds Naomi, “We didn’t acculturate as much as we wanted to. We wanted to be a part of the community, to integrate more.”
With that, the couple who moved from Miami to Vero Beach six years ago to raise their now 14-year-old son, Joaquin, away from the urban fray, kicked around a few ideas about what they wanted to center their business around – pizza being one of them – until settling on something they both enjoy daily: coffee. And good coffee at that.
“It’s hard to find decent coffee … we go to places where they have filter coffee. They pump it and it looks and tastes like coffee from a convenience store,” Santiago said.
And Naomi, who is from Los Angeles where the couple met 20 years ago, wanted to add juicing to the mix. “We’ve been doing it a long time having lived in California,” she said, “and we wanted to bring that here.”
Located at 29, Suite 1A, Royal Palm Pointe, harking “Local food, coffee and juicery” on its shop window, La Tabla offers a simple menu with coffee the primary draw and healthy food made with organic and local ingredients in a relaxed, casual environment.
There are no fryers or a microwave on the premises – no cooking in grease, nothing deep fried. You won’t find canned sodas and other beverages that come from a factory. Instead, they serve house-made soda such as organic ginger ale, orange and grapefruit; herbal iced tea; lemonade; and various juice blends with all sorts of healthy ingredients. There are also shakes and protein drinks.
And everything is served on plates and in mugs, Mason jars and Ball jars. They use biodegradable plastic forks. If you really want a straw, they have metal ones for you. The reason: “We are so against plastic,” said Naomi. “That’s what we see in the ocean. It’s so sad – it’s everywhere you go. If we can help in any way and there are options, we want to reduce the trash.”
Clean and pristine, the place is anything but stuffy. The upbeat and friendly vibe is as much a draw to La Tabla as the varieties of coffee which include American, espresso, double shot espresso, double shot macchiato, caffe latte, latte macchiato or mocha and cappuccino.
On its second day of business, Navini Coakley was impressed with the quality coffee and food. Having grown up in South Africa where she had access to a string of quality coffee shops, she said she’s inclined to be picky about her daily java – and finding a bold-flavored roast that meets her standards locally had eluded her until then.
“I’m very particular about my coffee,” she said after having a latte macchiato, poached organic egg and avocado on multigrain toast. “The coffee here is flavorful and has lots of depth.”
“Besides,” she added, “I appreciate the ambience, which is more reminiscent of a coffee shop you’d find in a small city. It is metropolitan in feel.”
The decor is industrial with black plumbing pipes and four long wooden shelves, graced with vintage items and books. There are 1950s gas station lamps and antique Danish outdoor lamps hanging from the ceiling over the concrete counter. The kitchen, some of which can be seen from the main area, has subway tiles. Santiago did most of the design and work himself.
On the walls are large photographs of surfers and the ocean by local photographer Nate Harrington.
The coffee shop showcases the owners’ appreciation for surfing and vintage items – a 1970s skateboard, a 1960s Etch A Sketch mechanical drawing toy, 1950s movie projector once owned by Santiago’s grandfather. Most eye-catching is the 10-foot longboard made and signed by Robert August, the surf legend who is featured in the iconic 1966 surf film, Endless Summer. Santiago won this board in a raffle at a Wrightsville Beach, NC, surf competition and it is one of 300 replicas of the one that August surfed in the movie, and later crafted to donate to charities for raffles. It hangs over the long pine table in the shop. Hence, the name “La Tabla,” which in Spanish means surfboard or table.
Surfing movies are shown on a large TV screen and there are books on travel, art and surfing for sale.
“We wanted a relaxed vibe with simple, high-quality food and drinks,” said Naomi. “People are always looking for the complex, but it’s nice to go back to your roots, using a few ingredients to make food taste great.”
The morning menu includes toast made with 12-grain whole wheat, whole wheat English muffin and gluten-free bread; poached free-range egg and avocado; cream cheese and house-made strawberry jam; and Greek yogurt with house-roasted organic granola and fresh berries.
The lunch menu includes an organic kale salad with chopped kale, spinach, carrots, red cabbage, dried cranberries and feta cheese; and grain salad bowl which includes brown rice blend, quinoa, lentils, barley, seeds and nuts with kale, spinach, veggies and edamame and option to add tuna salad, chicken milanese or tempeh.
Paninis are served hot or cold on 12-grain whole wheat, ciabatta, wheat baguette or gluten-free bread. They include prosciutto, tuna garden salad, all natural turkey, roast beef and grilled cheese trio.
For the sweet tooth, there’s house-made organic banana ice cream, Nutella and banana crepe and Dulce de leche crepe to choose from as well as healthy snacks sold by the ounce and pound including energy chunks, almonds, dried fruits and dark chocolate with Brazil nuts.
Excited about this new chapter, Naomi and Santiago recounted how they landed in Vero. For years they came up from Miami to rent a house on the beach in Sebastian on weekends to be close to the inlet where Santiago and his son surf. On one visit, they drove south on A1A and came across Ocean Drive. “We thought, ‘what a beautiful little town,'” recalled Santiago.
Shortly afterwards, the family moved to Vero Beach. “I thought it was an adventure and maybe we’d be here a year. But we’ve been here for six years now!” Naomi said.
And although she still travels for work with the marketing communications firm, she says, “The coffee shop is a great thing to focus on locally and it’s a nice change for me to be wearing an apron!”
