MUSTANG ISLAND, TEXAS; June 30, 2011 – Construction is almost complete on the Town Center Café, the first restaurant at the Cinnamon Shore mixed-use community on Mustang Island, and a grand opening is tentatively scheduled for mid-July. The opening will mark a major milestone for Cinnamon Shore, the first wholly master-planned New Urbanism development on Texas’s Coastal Bend featuring a close-knit, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with modern-day conveniences. It will be the first finished piece of commercial property in the community, and it serves as the start of the developer’s vision of a town center replete with convenient shops, charming restaurants, workspaces and gathering places coming to fruition.
With design and décor that is very similar to the adjacent homes, the Café fits in perfectly with Cinnamon Shore’s distinctive architectural vernacular. Boasting white washed wood plank walls, blue floors and a soaring ceiling, the Café evokes a sense of tranquility while reminding one of the 1,200 feet of beachfront on which the community was built.
Open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., during peak season, the Café, located at 165 Social Circle, will feature a variety of organic gourmet coffees, artisan level espresso, fresh-baked pastries, assorted piled-high Panini sandwiches, frozen fruit smoothies and a full premium bar featuring microbrewery beer, an extensive wine list and super premium liquor. In addition, the Café will boast the Coastal Bend’s only fresh made Italian gelato and sorbetto, crafted locally by David Bendett, proprietor.
Catering to residents and guests alike, the Café is geared toward feeding the entire family for the whole day. From warm cinnamon rolls and muffins for breakfast to thick turkey, tuna or tomato basil Panini sandwiches (just to name a few) for lunch and dinner to refreshing after-dinner drinks and desserts (coffee and cocktails for the adults and Italian gelato for the kids), the Café has dining covered for the day. And for those on the go, the Café offers a boxed lunch including a sandwich, chips, pastry and drink for approximately $8—great for a picnic on the beach or to accompany a game of golf on the neighboring Newport Dunes Links course.
Of all the tasty treats at the Café, perhaps the most mentionable is the Italian gelato. According to Bendett, “Gelato has been around for over 400 years, contains 2/3 less fat than ice cream and tastes way better. Fruit based flavors (sorbetto) have no dairy in them, making them even healthier.”
Bendett, who also owns the Coffee Waves shops in Port Aransas and Corpus Christi, attended gelato school in Baltimore, Md., where he learned to make gelato from a small family-owned Italian company. He makes Italian Gelato just as they do in Italy and uses the most up-to-date modern equipment available to ensure the highest consistency and quality. All gelato served at the Café will be made fresh just a few miles down the road at Coffee Waves Port Aransas.
Bendett says that, aside from his two Coffee Waves shops, no one else sells fresh made gelato on the Coastal Bend. He says, “This unique product is just one of the things that makes the Café a one-of-a-kind business, setting the standard for coffee shops all the way to Houston and San Antonio.”
With over 90 different gelato and sorbetto flavors rotating on a weekly basis, Café customers will never be bored of the sweet confection. Some flavors will be kept in stock constantly, due to popular demand, including: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Butterfinger, Stratiatella, Mint Chocolate Chip, Fruits of the Forest, Strawberry, NSA Strawberry, Raspberry, Mango, Coconut, Pineapple, Strawberries and Cream, Chocolate Chip, Rocky Road, Heath Bar, Chocolate, NSA Chocolate, Pistachio, Nutella, Hazelnut and Tiramisu. Special flavors include: Root Beer Float, Banana Cream Pie, Monkey Tail (strawberry, banana and chocolate chip), Kiwi, Raspberry Chocolate, Dulce de Leche, Cotton Candy and many, many more. In fact, for a limited time, a special cinnamon flavor will be created especially for the Café grand opening. (Don’t miss your free sample!)
Cuisine brings a community together, as the Café will at Cinnamon Shore, offering a calendar of events on a monthly basis and serving as a social hotspot. Bendett plans on hosting wine tasting nights, martini madness nights, live music every weekend, special concerts in the town square and so much more, including a major Folk Festival in 2012.
Bendett says that while his Coffee Waves shops already offer an alternative to the “fast food” coffee chains by offering the highest-quality coffee for the “serious coffee snob”, the Café will raise the bar and take everything to the next level. Bendett reports, “The Café is a cool concept and a standout product. It sets an even higher standard for the area’s dining options, while offering something for everyone.”
To learn more about the Café at Cinnamon Shore, visitwww.cinnamonshore.com or call (361) 749-0704. For more information about real estate purchases and rentals at Cinnamon Shore, visit www.cinnamonshore.com or call (888) 893-0656.
