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Origins: The WELL Coffeehouse Pub & Eatery

January 9, 2020
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Natalie Gauvin has no interest in becoming a flight attendant, but her life’s passion follows the script.

“The airlines have it right, you have to put the oxygen mask on you first before you can be available to help others,” she said.

An aspiration to “be well” herself and help others do the same influences every aspect of her family/artist/fitness enthusiast/nutritionist/business owner life.

“I want to put out something positive and good in the world, from my artwork to teaching people how to move in their bodies and how to be comfortable in their own skin, to yoga, dance, Pilates, mindfulness — I’ve been in fitness for 25 years,” Natalie said. “And to nutrition, helping people understand that it’s easy to be well, and your body is a temple and you need to take care of it first.”

Every aspect of this vision is on display Monday through Saturday at the aptly named shop she opened in July 2016 in Liberty Lake, The WELL Coffeehouse Pub & Eatery. In fact, a previous version of her plans for The WELL included a fitness center. When she decided to open in Liberty Lake, she found a location across Country Vista Drive from a place close to her heart, The Mat, a yoga and martial arts studio.

“I just decided to take the food portion of (my business concept) and go with it, cause I live here and this is my community and the Mat is right there across the street,” she said.

An added benefit to opening up close to home is her ability to host community events important to her. Natalie, a trained mediator, thinks people should sit down at tables more often to talk about supposedly taboo topics like politics and religion. This fall, she hosted an event she billed as “controversial movie night” to help people get talking.

  • Natalie Gauvin

The “top dog, biggest priority in my life and world,” however, is her work building a local mindfulness coalition. Mindfulness is simply the ability to be fully present, aware and thereby not overly reactive or overwhelmed by external events. How is it practiced?

“Stand back, listen to your breath, close your eyes, feel that you’re human alongside other humans, and that’s all there is,” Natalie said.

She is particularly focused on getting mindfulness incorporated into the start of the day at local schools. After Central Valley High School went on lockdown in January 2018 when a student brought a gun to school, Gauvin organized a community gathering at The WELL attended by local public officials and concerned citizens to talk about mindfulness.

“We can’t make parents be better parents,” she wrote in an email around that time. “We can’t fortify schools overnight. We can’t change gun control overnight. We can teach mindfulness in every grade, every day, five minutes, overnight.”

THE NAME

While The WELL started out as a name, it has become a reputation Natalie is proud of after 3½ years in business.

Asked about what makes her best customers loyal, she doesn’t hesitate: The WELL is trusted to provide high quality, and “as much as we can, we go local and organic and sustainable.”

“(For example), I don’t use iceberg lettuce, I use really good romaine, and we triple soak it to get off as much of the pesticides as we can,” Natalie explained. “All of these are time-consuming steps that lead to the highest quality of something.”

THE VIBE

Natalie the artist is on display when you enter The WELL, which she describes in five words: “creative, warm, inviting, cozy, inclusive.”

Natalie is a painter, but her artistic talents are diverse. She has designed background sets for theaters, built her own furniture and performed and taught artistic dance.  

THE TOP PICK

Natalie said the Isagenix smoothies, especially Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and Green Bliss, have developed an extremely loyal following.

“I think it’s a great product,” she said of Isagenix. “That’s something I’m really proud of offering here.”

On the food side, Natalie said the Thai Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wrap and Avocado Toast are both popular orders.

THE CULT FAVORITE

If you go to most coffee shops, it’s possible to order your cappuccino between 12 and 20 ounces – even down to eight in some cases. Except that, well, that’s not really a traditional cappuccino.

“When people come in and ask for a 16-ounce cappuccino, we always educate them,” Natalie said. “You’re just getting a foamy latte, and they are charging more for it probably.”

At The WELL, “we serve it like they do in Italy.” This is espresso topped with foam created by steaming milk, resulting in what is typically a 4 to 6 ounce drink whether people want it prepared wet or dry, she explained. The traditional drink has an intense flavor; that flavor is muted in alternative versions that add milk and foam to fill larger cups.

While it’s far from the most popular drink on the menu, The WELL’s commitment to serving the traditional cappuccino has developed a small but enthusiastic following, she said.

THE TEAM

In addition to Isagenix, Natalie lists Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters as one of the key partners in her pursuit of offering the highest quality products to her customers. Among the team members that make the shop run, Natalie listed her sons and her longest-tenured employee, Aimee Fassbender.

I want to put out something positive and good into the world.

Natalie Gauvin, The WELL

THE TIME WHEN …

A couple walked in holding hands just as Natalie was closing the store for the day.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry, we’re closed,’” she recalled. “And they said, ‘Oh. OK, well do you mind if we just look around for a little bit.’”

Natalie agreed, and the couple huddled in the corner, “making googly eyes and talking sweet to each other.”

As she picked up some context clues, Natalie began to ask about their story, learning that exactly one year prior the couple had met at The WELL on a blind date after connecting online. The woman said she had picked The WELL as a safe spot and promised herself a short date and that the two would leave separately.

“She said, ‘I don’t know if you remember us, but we sat here for four hours, and then I felt so comfortable I got into his car, and the rest of the date we just drove around and talked, and we ended up having dinner. It was a 13-hour date, and we haven’t been apart since,’” Natalie recalled.

THE INFO

Josh’s update (5/23/20): Natalie has updated her business model to include coworking space. For complete details of updated cafe hours and opportunities at The Well, consult the information below.


The WELL Coffeehouse Pub & Eatery
21980 E. Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake
509-474-1187
facebook.com/libertylakecoffee
@thewellatlibertylake on Instagram

  • Thanks to Natalie Gauvin (at left and alongside employee Aimee Fassbender) for sharing the story of The WELL with me!
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: Seattle Sounders FC)

While you’re here, would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

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Origins: Swell Coffee

March 19, 2020
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What happens when Craft Coffee Nerd meets Personable Drive Through Barista?

Swell Coffee.

Like many husband-and-wife owned businesses, the Spokane Valley business’ identity is a true marriage of Shane and Alicia Thompson. He is the bean-roasting, third-waving, coffee-mad scientist whose Christmas list features brewing devices that appear straight out of a chemistry lab. She is the on-the-go, service-centric schoolteacher and mom with a background in drive-through coffee.

Together, they opened Swell Coffee to be a people-first drive-through experience whose star is the craft coffee Shane roasts himself. A year and a half after opening on Sullivan and 16th, the Thompsons recently debuted a second Swell location at 14505 E. Trent Ave. in conjunction with a major announcement: They purchased longtime drive-through Grinders Coffee and its on-site roaster, Bumper Crop Coffee, from Spokane coffee pioneer Malcolm Wicks. Grinders’ transition to Swell was celebrated with a grand opening special March 14.

When Malcolm first called Shane with the idea last summer, “I wasn’t in a place where my mind could comprehend it.” On one hand, it was his dream scenario. On the other, Swell was less than a year in business. After months of discussion, an agreement was reached.

“I got really lucky, because we could have inherited a business where I’m not a fan of the coffee, but Malcolm to be honest is one of the best roasters in Spokane and understands coffee better than anyone I’ve ever met,” Shane said.

I got really lucky, because we could have inherited a business where I’m not a fan of the coffee, but Malcolm to be honest is one of the best roasters in Spokane and understands coffee better than anyone I’ve ever met.

Shane Thompson, Swell Coffee

The overlap between the two business models didn’t hurt matters. Both center on drive-through. Both feature coffee sourced and roasted by the owners. Both Malcolm and Shane are coffee-centric, but neither are pretentious about it.

“The reality is there are so many people who aren’t there for coffee,” Malcolm said of the drive-through business. “You’re meeting a relational need, maybe an emotional need, maybe a quick fix, maybe an ‘I don’t have anybody to celebrate my birthday with.’ So coffee is just an avenue to do that. In order to break down those walls on a personal level, you have to be inclusive and not seclusive. Why are we trying to be seclusive in a customer-service based industry?”

At the same time, both agree their house-roasted, excellent coffee is a key differentiator in the drive-through model, and one of the reasons Malcolm saw the Thompsons as ideal successors.

“We’ve been able to educate people about putting less stuff into their coffee,” Shane said. “By nature of roasting coffee a little bit lighter than normal and allowing flavor to come out allows people who might have been heavy syrup coffee drinkers into maybe more traditional latte drinkers. So I celebrate those really small victories, even if you could look at us as a gateway into specialty coffee.”

Shane said he doesn’t plan changes with Bumper Crop and has been roasting with Malcolm for a while. Roasting full time — as opposed to just enough for one coffee stand — has been a long-held dream, however, so he is excited about pursuing an entire side of the business he had previously viewed as closed off to him.

“Wholesaling wasn’t part of my vision (originally),” Shane said. “I really didn’t want to because there are already so many great multi-roasters in Spokane that the thought of developing another multi-roaster from the ground up just seemed like excess.”

Eventually, Shane would love to see the Bumper Crop building — a customized wonder that Malcolm designed and built himself — double as a specialty café, “if we can figure out the zoning and parking.”

“I see people here,” Shane said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I know if I had a cafe in here it could probably do pretty well.”

None of this is something Shane thought he and Alicia would be talking about so quickly, given that “Swell Coffee 1.0” opened only 18 months ago. The location just south of Alicia’s alma mater, Central Valley High School, was a spot they had thought about for years. While the couple live in Millwood, they have family nearby, and Alicia teaches down the street at Sunrise Elementary School.  

Meanwhile, Shane came to a point of transition with his longtime job at Youth For Christ Spokane. By this time, Shane had spent years as a coffee hobbyist, even founding the Artisan Coffee Alliance in 2014 to spotlight and grow specialty coffee culture in Spokane. Deep down through it all, a long-held entrepreneurial dream was waiting to be realized.

“Everything in life was pushing toward one day being in the coffee industry,” Shane said. “I knew I wanted to start a business some day, and coffee was the dream.”

THE NAME

Shane and Alicia love the ocean, so their shop was named long before there was ever any actual momentum behind starting the business.

“Swell was a name we had for a long time, and that is kind of driving this idea that we just love surfing and ocean culture,” Shane said. “We thought it would be fun to create a little drive-through that has this element that’s a little different than what you see in Spokane, like this place kind of belongs on the ocean.”

THE VIBE

While the surfer vibe reflects Shane’s long-held passion for board sports, the heart behind Swell actually goes deeper than an ocean feel or an excellent cup of coffee. It’s something Alicia knew from experience but that Shane wasn’t able to completely appreciate until Swell took off, and that was the opportunity for the business to be based upon relationships. As Christians who care first and foremost about people over product, Shane said he’s been blessed by the opportunities for human connection.

“I’ve got to pray with people; I’ve got to cry with people,” Shane said. “The same day somebody comes through who just lost their grandma, that very same day there’s a woman whose about to give birth. You see it all, this wide spectrum of normal people.”

And, typically, you see them over and over again.

“The loyalty in drive through is insane,” Shane said. “In drive-through culture, people are like, ‘This is my drive through,” and that’s because of relationship. I’ve fallen in love with drive-through culture and the relationships that are built because of it.”

THE TOP PICK

When Swell Coffee became a reality in September 2018, a community of support was quick to follow with steady traffic and stellar online ratings.

From the beginning, the standout menu item has been the craft coffee itself.

“If someone wants like a correct cappuccino or a well-extracted drip coffee with an origin tied to it, a lightly roasted coffee, we have (options) a little bit outside the norm. It’s taking craft coffee but putting it in a drive through setting.”

THE CULT FAVORITE

What is a Swell Coffee product that has attracted an enthusiastic following, even if it’s not the core of Swell’s business? Rather than name a specific drink, Shane pointed to the way his business attracts a loyal following of health-conscious individuals, whether that’s ordering a specialty coffee without pumping it full of added flavors or returning regularly for a delicious green tea.  

“We really care about people’s health, so we have stuff like Kombucha or Matcha or other healthy options,” he said.

THE TEAM

A key component of the Thompsons’ entrepreneurial dream is employing others.

“One thing that’s really important to me and Alicia is that we want to create an environment of work and work culture where our employees may be with us a long time or a little time, but when they leave, they say, ‘That’s how I deserve to be treated,’” Shane said. “So I want people to have this expectation that they deserve to be treated with respect and honor. Whether a drive-through stand or a corporate high-rise job, people deserve to be treated well.”

While the Swell Coffee family has grown with the new location, the Thompsons also keep busy with their own family, which includes children Jude (6), Sailer (4) and Oakley (2).

THE TIME WHEN

The Thompsons love nothing better than being able to care for the people in their community, something Shane said is inspired by their faith. On two occasions, they’ve been able to raise money for families with kids battling cancer, including earlier this year for friends whose 4-year-old daughter was diagnosed with kidney cancer. After a day of fundraising at the Sullivan Swell Coffee stand, $3,100 was raised for the family.

“I think the thing for me is the beauty that you can be a small, ma-and-pa business and make a big difference in someone’s life; it doesn’t matter how big you are,” Shane said. “We get so excited to see how our business can make a difference beyond just a product in someone’s hand. It can actually physically make a difference, a monetary difference. Obviously we’re not going to solve any issues, but we might help pay a bill. We might help be an encouragement just to say, ‘You’re not alone.’”

THE INFO

1604 S. Sullivan Road and 14505 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley
@swellcoffeelife on Instagram

  • Huge shout out to Shane for taking time to share his story during this season of transition. Bonus: That oat milk latte was beyond swell!
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: Uganda National Team)

Would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

Origins: International Coffee & Bakery

January 23, 2020
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Growing up, it was milk and pastries. Over time, it was tea and pastries. These days, it’s typically coffee and pastries.

Now that siblings Nina Lapin, Dina Nikulin and Roman Chebotarev own and operate International Coffee & Bakery together, they offer it all — including Mom’s famous pastries, breads and cakes they have been eating their whole lives. Family recipes are served alongside an array of other treats and menu items with roots in Russia and eastern Europe.

  • From left, siblings Nina Lapin, Dina Nikulin and Roman Chebotarev

International Coffee & Bakery opened in August in the Greenacres Shopping Center, part of a reimagining of the family’s Malinka Euro Market and Bakery that was located three doors down the plaza. Why tweak the business model?

“Everybody asked, ‘Do you have coffee, do you have coffee?’” Nina summarized.

Added Dina: “We used to have people that would come in and get baked stuff from us, and then they would go to the bar and drink coffee at the bar, and so that’s why we decided to add the coffee shop.”

And that’s where brother Roman entered the equation. Roman recently finished four years of business studies at Eastern Washington University.

“I’ve always wanted a coffee shop,” he said, and his work launching this newest facet of the business has been a hit with customers and family alike.

“We’ve got everybody hooked now,” Dina said. “Mom comes in here, ‘Roman, make me my coffee!’”

Mom still does some of the baking, and Nina’s recipes are also featured. The focus is tried-and-true recipes with no additives that the family has enjoyed for years. Oh, and about that family…  

“Our parents have 15 kids — no twins, one mother and father,” Nina said. “I’m No. 6.”

If you’re keeping track at home, Dina is No. 12 and Roman is No. 14. The family has lived in the Spokane area for 16 years, and is heavily invested in the Greenacres Shopping Center. Nina owns and operates Greenacres Cleaners next door to the bakery. Dina and her husband own Greenacres Cabinets a couple doors further down.

Roman’s focus is on the coffee shop. He would love to see the business eventually develop more of a café vibe, with a second location part of his long-term vision.

THE NAME

The bakery and market are truly what put the “International” in the name of this coffee shop.  Whether it’s the pastries and breads, candy and cookies or meats and cheeses, the recipes and the products typically hail from overseas. Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Germany — to name just a few of the many countries listed during a recent tour of the offerings.

Even the Malinka name, which is still used in connection with the bakery and market, is a Russian word meaning “raspberry.”

One of the most popular international products are the teas, with options that cross the map.  

Two Russian family favorites are coming to the menu soon: Borscht soup and Chebureki, a deep-fried turnover that is “kind of like a Russian empanada,” Dina said.

While many customers have Russian or European roots, Nina said she especially loves to help people experience something new. This has led to a “try before you buy” philosophy to encourage shoppers to take a chance.

“When we give people a sample, even with the sausage or something from the food section, they will buy,” she said. “And they come back, of course.”

THE VIBE

When the business moved into the new space in August, it allowed International Coffee & Bakery to combine forces with Malinka, and the layout of the shop followed suit. The entry portion of the deep store looks and feels like a coffee shop, with seating for conversations with friends or working independently on a laptop. The back portion of the space showcases favorite baked goods and European market items that Malinka customers have come to love.

THE TOP PICK

There are several standouts, the siblings said, but perhaps the most popular treats are the Peaches, which look like fruit-shaped pastries but are essentially cookies filled with dulce de leche cream.

On the espresso side, the most popular pick is the white chocolate mocha, starting with the people who unlock the doors in the morning.

“My mom likes it, I like it, she likes it,” Dina said, pointing to her sister.

“And half of our customers like it, too,” Roman jumped in.

If you want to customize your own drink, the house-made pumpkin spice and caramel syrups are go-to choices for regular customers.

THE CULT FAVORITE

While it’s more of a summer obsession, Roman said the shop’s Lithuanian ice cream has an extremely loyal following.

“It’s the legit ice cream from Europe,” he said.

With more of a cream-like flavor emphasis, “it tastes completely different,” Nina said.

THE TEAM

Family and non-family employees keep the business running, and partners like DOMA coffee and Rishi tea attract customers with their high-quality reputations.

THE TIME WHEN …

One of the siblings’ favorite aspects of the new layout is the space for community gatherings. Over the holiday season, they had two events in particular that packed the shop: cookie decorating and a Russian Christmas party (fun fact: Russian Santa doesn’t have to wear red; this one looked smooth in an icy blue suit).

In the future, the siblings have plans for the space to continue to be used for community gatherings, with ideas ranging from sewing classes to setting up a projector to show cartoons.

THE INFO
International Coffee & Bakery
18209 E. Appleway Ave., Spokane Valley
509-321-7479
www.internationalcoffeebakery.com
@international_coffee_bakery on Facebook and Instagram

  • So much fun to laugh and learn alongside siblings. Thanks to Dina, Roman and Nina for sharing your story!
    — Josh Johnson (soccer jersey: FC Barcelona)

While you’re here, would you do me a favor?

If you enjoy articles like this one, join the CoffeeJosh mailing list. It’s hurry-free, spam-free and also free … free. As a thanks, I’ll send you a PDF — you guessed it, free — that has 10 of the best coffee shop orders in the Spokane area. (All 10 are drinks and treats local coffee shop owners make for themselves. In this case, expect to pay for your order and feel like it was totally worth it.)

1 Comment
    Rob Hartman says: Reply
    January 9th 2020, 9:26 pm

    Written by and about people I love—awesome!!

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