por David Harvey
Reportero SDUN
“Lestat’s hasn’t been locked in eight years,” Husler said with a smile. “I don’t even know where the key is anymore.”
When Husler and Gerkowski first saw Lestat’s in 1997, it was a small coffeehouse called Java de Paradigm, which suffered from a lack of clientele and sporadic hours. It took them nearly five years to make it a 24-hour shop.
Now Husler and Gerkowski are about to go back to the life of closing coffee shop doors – albeit briefly.
The pair has purchased Cream Coffee – the iconic, mural-adorned shop at 4496 Park Boulevard in University Heights – and they expect to reopen in July as Lestat’s on Park.
Their first priority after taking over is to redo the run-down, dining-hall décor of Cream, as well as trash the basement-worthy furnishings.
“[We’re going to] renovate it to a more stylistic place that makes people want to go in, bring it culture and bring it to life,” Husler said.
They expect to use Lestat’s style, the painting-adorned coffee tables and baroque furniture, but Husler also said Lestat’s on Park will have a classier French theme, instead of the original’s Victorian motif.
Like the shop on Adams Avenue, Lestat’s on Park will have quirky cultural references as well. The area used to be an ostrich farm and mention of ostrich skin chairs has been tossed around, along with ostrich images on some of the tables.
Lestat’s on Park will also feature more performances than Cream had.
Justin Hudnall, a Lestat’s regular and coordinator of So Say We All, a visual and spoken arts performance troupe that holds a monthly show at Cream, has already spoken to Husler, and both said they look forward to working together.
“Whatever direction [Husler] chooses to take [at Lestat’s on Park], I have faith it will mean only good things to artists and the University Heights neighborhood as a whole,” Hudnall said.
A back room in the coffee house is currently leased to a clothing boutique, Hunt & Gather, that will become a small acoustic venue with nightly shows. Hunt & Gather has the space leased through 2010, and Husler intends to honor that lease, so the small venue won’t open until at least January 2011.
“It will be great because it’s the kind of place we can throw two speakers in, and let the room work for itself,” said Louis Brazier, the one-man sound crew that manages Lestat’s West (Lestat’s neighboring music venue) every night.
The shop on Park will also serve some of it’s namesake’s signature dishes – created by Gerkowski, a seasoned executive chef – as well as Lestat’s large, popular cupcakes, adorned with humor in the form of frosting skulls or kittens, and their individually-sized pies, which rival the best slices from nearby Julian.
Lestat’s on Park will be the first satellite property for Husler and Gerkowski, though Lestat’s has expanded twice, with neighboring Lestat’s West in 2000 and a much bigger seating area last August.
“We’ve been looking at Cream for a while,” Husler said. “I think Cream is just a fantastic location, it has all the things that make a great coffee shop.”
In 2007, Lestat’s owners had a third party approach Cream owner Chris Coggan, a graffiti artist turned biochemist turned barista. At the time Coggan was uninterested in letting Cream go.
After Cream Coffee began to lose business, Husler and Gerkowski, rather than watch the shop go under, decided to make another pitch.
“It was doing really well and then it began to falter,” Gerkowski said.
Shawn Gray, Cream Coffee’s manager, says the change in ownership is a welcome one.
“I have a deep respect for the present owner now, but I know his passions are elsewhere,” Gray said.
Husler, ignoring the advice to start with a clean slate, will be interviewing Cream’s current employees over the next few weeks.
“I never want to look at a person as being anything other than an asset,” Husler said.
Nick Garland, who has worked at Lestat’s for seven years, couldn’t even see over the counter when he first ordered coffee from Husler. The two bonded when Garland caught Husler playing Star Craft in his office and tried to teach him how to do a Reaver Drop. Husler said the only thing he learned was to not play video games with anyone younger than himself.
At 17, Garland asked to shadow Husler for a high school work-study. After working a catering gig together at the Star 92.5 Jingle Ball, Husler asked Garland if he wanted a job.
“The job fueled my video-game nerd-dom,” Garland said as Husler and Gerkowski laughed. “I bought an original Xbox with my first check.”
Later, Gerkowski’s mutt, Charger, rescued from Hurricane Katrina and known for his crafty revenge tactics, urinated on the Xbox. It’s still brought up years later, but with the kind of loving hostility expected from siblings.
While Husler’s younger sister does the baking for Lestat’s (and soon Lestat’s on Park), everyone else, like Garland, is considered family because they work at the shop.
“We don’t get rid of employees here, we just add them as we get bigger,” Husler said.
And getting bigger doesn’t seem to be a problem for the owners of Lestat’s.
“We’ve done pretty well in this economy, so we know this is an opportunity for us,” Gerkowski said.
The transition might be difficult, but the new owners said they’re looking forward to opening Lestat’s on Park full time.
“I just think coffee and 24 hours go hand in hand,” Husler said. “[San Diego] is a big city; there should be more of that culture. We want to be 24 hours in a year, but we have to build the business back up and rebuild the confidence within the community.”
If their success with Lestat’s says anything, it’s that they’ll be losing the keys to Cream soon enough.
