Veteran restaurateur Chelsea Schoeni is turning her dream of spending more time with her family and three cattle dogs into a reality.
Schoeni is well under way with her plans to open a java stand under a shade tree by Route 67 in her hometown of Ramona.
In December, she went to New Mexico to buy a horse trailer that had been converted into a coffee truck. To comply with San Diego County code requirements, she is having it gutted and remodeled with the help of a contractor and a few friends.
“It’s a labor of love,” said Schoeni, who expects to open her new business, Cattle Dog Coffee Co., in mid- to late-April in the Country Wine & Spirits’ parking lot at 17718 state Route 67. But she wants the business to be mobile enough to take the coffee trailer to special events and other locations, she said.
The faces of her dogs, Bandit, Indie and Maverick, are featured on the Cattle Dog Coffee Co. logo.
“I grew up with a cattle dog, we had one in our family,” Schoeni said. “I love their personality. They’re hilarious and challenging.
“They’re part of my inspiration to pursue this,” she added. “I want them to hang out with me during the day beside the trailer, tied up in the shade.”
Schoeni, 37, has worked in the restaurant industry for over 20 years, mostly as a manager for a deli and coffee shop in Coronado. But like many others in the business, her life was turned upside-down by the coronavirus.
When her two 11-year-old children, Skyler and Connor, returned to school in September, Schoeni opted to work part-time at Clayton’s Bakery & Bistro in Coronado, where she is a manager and investor. Three months later she was furloughed amid COVID-related belt-tightening so the business could other employees who needed the paychecks.
Schoeni said she was able to rely on the income from her husband, Steve Schoeni, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL who had spent 20 years in the military. The couple’s two children are from their previous marriages.
“My husband asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’” she said. “‘Do you want to go back to what you were doing or explore something new?’”
As a teenager, Schoeni’s first job was at the now-closed Beach Grill and Deli in Coronado, where she grew up. It was an iconic eatery that had been purchased by a young woman, Mary Frese, who became Schoeni’s mentor. Schoeni started as a server and moved into a management role at the deli.
After Frese sold the restaurant in 2003, Schoeni got a real estate license and worked in residential and commercial property management in Coronado for three years.
When Frese opened another restaurant in Coronado, Clayton’s Coffee Shop, a 1940s diner she still owns, Schoeni went back to work with her as general manager. She continued in that position for the next decade.
“I worked side-by-side with her,” she said. “When she bought Clayton’s it was not in great shape, but Mary can see the end vision. She turned Clayton’s into a destination people love. She’s kept it as vintage and authentic as she could.”
One of their ideas was to give customers waiting for a table or just ing through an option to purchase coffee and donuts, pastries and muffins from a walk-up window accessible outside the building. Clayton’s served drip coffee, but the window, dubbed Clayton’s on 10th, offered specialty coffees such as lattes and espresso.
“It’s like a business within a business,” Schoeni said. “This window had a lot of followers. It’s a cute piece of the building now.”
After running Clayton’s for 10 years, Schoeni said Frese decided to open two other locations — Clayton’s Galley, a grab-n-go deli market at Marina Cortez in San Diego, and Clayton’s Bakery & Bistro, an early 1900s-inspired bistro a block away from the original Clayton’s restaurant.
With the business expansion, Schoeni stepped into a managing partner role, running business operations and overseeing payroll and bookkeeping.
In her years with Frese, Schoeni learned about selling coffee with the walk-up window at the coffee shop and about baked goods at the European-style Clayton’s Bakery & Bistro, which employs an executive pastry chef who supplies the restaurants with pastries.
After her furlough, she decided to create her own coffee stand that could serve commuters from Ramona, Julian and other backcountry areas heading to their down-the-hill jobs, and become a gathering spot for hikers, moms and friends.
Over the Christmas holiday, she and her husband took their children to the Grand Canyon and made a detour to pick up the horse-trailer-turned-coffee-truck.
In January, Schoeni decided to create Cattle Dog Coffee Co. close to home.
“When I was commuting back and forth to Coronado I felt I was absent from my kids, my husband and my dogs,” she said. “Those are three very important things in my life.”
Schoeni said Cattle Dog Coffee Co. will cater to coffee clientele first, then she’ll consider adding baked goods to the menu.
“Now I get to put my creativity back into another project,” she said. “I get to park the coffee stand under an oak tree and add lights, flowers and pottery and make it a destination. I have these big ideas and I know I can make them happen.”
She’s also looking into another venture with her brother, Cody Morris, at his San Diego brewery, Embolden Beer Co. & New Motion Seltzers. The Embolden team is looking to have a coffee bar inside the warehouse to be open during their early morning production hours. Schoeni reached out and is working with the team to develop the concept for Cattle Dog Coffee Co. with the quintessential horse trailer.
She found her second horse trailer while she was driving her kids to school.
“I saw it parked in Ramona and asked the owner if he would sell it,” she said. “He happened to be selling it but it wasn’t on the market yet. The owner has been kind enough to let me give it a new adventure.”
Smoothie Shop competition
Two smoothie shops are on the verge of opening in Ramona — Pina Smoothies, owned by Amir Baradaran, a former professional soccer player in Iran, and Tropical Pineapples, owned by Ramona Fitness Center owner Peter San Nicolas.
Pina Smoothies is expected to open in the Albertson’s shopping center at 1451 Main St. by mid- to late- March. Tropical Pineapples had a soft opening Monday at 1664 Main St., next to Jersey Mike’s Subs.
Both businessmen have similar visions for their smoothie stores but their backgrounds are worlds apart.
Before Baradaran came to the United States seven years ago, he played soccer on a professional second division team in his native Iran. His skills transferred over to the media — he wrote articles and broadcast news about soccer for the BBC London News. Then he worked as a sports television anchor for a Persian TV station in Los Angeles.
When he moved to the San Diego area, he opened the Salon Smart hair and beauty salon in Poway. His wife, Benni, a hairdresser, runs the salon.
“America is the land of opportunity,” Baradaran said. “I chose to live here to have opportunities and I try my best. I can do TV, writing, be an anchor, a hairdresser and a juice maker. It’s not like that in my country. Even if I have talent there I don’t have a life.”
He opened a Pina Smoothies shop in his hometown of Poway seven years ago. He said he ventured into making smoothies because he likes cooking, and even does most of the cooking at home.
Baradaran said he chose Ramona for his second outlet in part because he discovered that many of his Poway customers come from Ramona and Julian to get their drinks.
“They’re looking for something healthy,” he said. “Our menu is unique because we use all fresh fruit.”
The Ramona store will also offer Acai bowls and ice cream.
Baradaran said he uses almond milk instead of dairy products in his smoothies. The store can supplement the smoothies with protein powder and energy shots, he said.
Pina Smoothies expects to provide seating for a dozen customers inside its store when indoor dining is allowed plus additional seating at two tables outside. He also plans to hire three people who will be trained at the Poway Pina Smoothies.
The Tropical Pineapples smoothie and juice shop owned by Peter and Shayna San Nicolas opened Monday.
In addition to smoothies and juices, the shop is offering bowls, breakfast sandwiches, burritos, organic pastries, bagels and gourmet popsicles from Pop Pops Paleta in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood.
“One of our goals, especially with the COVID pandemic, is to partner with local San Diego businesses and use them for our products,” said San Nicolas, who also owns the Ramona Fitness Center with Shayna. “We are trying to our small-business community by doing that.”
The couple created a tropical boho theme to complement their selection of healthy foods and beverages. Although the business is now limited to takeout and outdoor dining, eventually the shop will seat 25 customers inside and another 10 customers outside, Peter San Nicolas said.
Tropical Pineapples is in the midst of hiring staff, including “blendtichians.” Resumes can be emailed to [email protected].
San Nicolas said he is making an effort to train his staff in providing top-notch service because he says he recognizes first impressions with customers really count.
“The details matter,” he said. “We want to be 100 percent ready to give people what they’re looking for.”
