Sun, sea and coffee beans... Islander opens café after 10 years in Costa Rica

Monday 02 April 2018

After 10 years in Costa Rica running two different bars and restaurants, an islander and his longtime partner have moved to "the safest place in the world" to open a speciality coffee shop on the Esplanade.

Liam Montgomery and Selda Kumcur left Costa Rica about four years ago as crime was rife in the country and picked Jersey as their next stop, and the location of their brand new venture, 'Cargo Café'.

The pair met in Costa Rica over 11 years ago. Born in Turkey, Selda grew up in Bordeaux, France, before travelling to Costa Rica to study sustainable development at the age of 17. "I fell in love with the country and I never went back. There was such a cool vibe," she explained. "I used to live in a hammock, go fishing and diving everyday."

For Liam, who was born in Jersey, it was pretty much the same scenario. While travelling, he visited Panama City and from there, he went to a town on the border with Costa Rica. He says he fell in love with the country. "It's hard to be in the sun all the time!" he joked.

Cargo Café will be the couple's third big project. While in Costa Rica, they worked in bars and nightclubs and even ran their own bar and restaurant. Selda said: "We have always been in hospitality and around people. I actually miss the big community that we had in the bar in Costa Rica and the friends we made there. We hope to recreate a community like this in the café." 

The couple enlisted the help of friends and family to build the café from scratch, in the location of former restaurant Jaipur. "We have tried to do it all ourselves. It helped save money on the budget. It took us about six months as the building was quite derelict when we came in. It had been empty for about four years so there was a lot of cleaning to do. It was a bit of a learning curve. I learned a lot of new things. I might miss it!" Liam commented.

Pictured: Liam and Selda build everything in the café with the help of friends and family, including tables.

Most of the furniture, including the bar, has been built using up cycled wood the couple found at Acorn or in local farms. They also used scaffolding poles for shelving and built their own tables with steel frames and more up cycled wood. Liam says: "We went rustic on the layout so we could have high end coffee machines and grinders."

The couple aim for their café to surf on the third wave coffee bar, which sees smaller independent companies promote high quality coffee and the work of baristas. Liam says: "We felt this was needed and lacking in Jersey. You have your franchises but we want to stand out, be unique and apart from them."

They have picked a London specialty coffee roaster, Ozone Coffee Roaster, to provide their blends. Selda explains: "We have done a lot of research and met with a lot of roasters. It just clicked with them. We liked their branding and the taste of their roasts, they won hands down! They work closely with farmers and have a direct relationship with them which was a big thing for us. We know where the beans are coming from!"

Pictured: Liam and Selda picked London specialty coffee roaster, Ozone Coffee Roaster, for their blend.

Besides coffees and teas, Cargo will also serve yummy recipes prepared by Emerson, who worked at Ormer for two years. Liam and Selda promised that they will use as many local ingredients as possible. The whole menu will be vegetarian, but customers will be able to add meat to the dishes if they wish to. The couple will also aim to be as eco-friendly as possible, offering compostable cups where possible.

If all goes well, Liam and Selda hope to open not only during the week but also on Sundays to serve up brunches. They also hope to help the local art scene by transforming the café into an art gallery and showcasing art and photographs on their walls.