April 15, 2024 – It’s not a small thing to take over a historic business. It requires guts and courage, knowingly jumping into a position where you probably can’t please everyone. But chef Mo L’Esperance is not one to shy away from a challenge.
As of January 1, 2023, the longtime local chef became the official owner of Coffee 9 in Ben Lomond, taking the reins from Debbie Sanchez who established the coffee shop in 1997.
Everyone is certainly letting L’Esperance know that those are some big shoes to fill and the chef is rising to the task. She is balancing efforts between requests from regulars to keep things exactly the same to pushing the envelope a bit and making big changes.
It’s a delicate dance, but she seems like a skilled choreographer. This crafty DIY-er has spiffed up the place with fresh paint, new design upgrades (check out the new bathroom redo) and refined the menu offerings. She is making everything in house, including the bagels and croissants, and has a baker coming in full time to do so. Her name is Betty, and L’Esperance says that everyone knows, “Betty is the boss.” But don’t worry, those giant muffins are still on offer, one thing she could not change without a huge uproar.
As if the first year owning a business is not busy enough, L’Esperance also has three kids in middle school (and a packed softball schedule). But if the path getting to this point is any indicator in her activity threshold, then we can obviously expect more.
The road began in Southern California, where she grew up, with an early job cooking at a pizza joint. She moved up here, worked in various restaurants in the Bay Area, then onto the executive chef position at Costanoa, on and off for six years. Next came Dream Inn, and then most recently, having her own home goods store at the Boardwalk, called Nest. This is where a lot of the non-food craftiness got unveiled, in the form of ceramics, jewelry and local art, some of which you’ll see on the shelves of Coffee 9. But when the lease was not renewed at the Boardwalk, L’Esperance and her partner, Jeff, caught the coffee shop opportunity within seven days and never looked back.
For someone who is comfortable with a packed life, it’s not a huge surprise to hear her say, “I got bored!” Enter the C9 Supper Club. This after hours concept is a great way to utilize the coffee shop space in a way where she can express her restaurant roots. Along with her decade-long sous chef Manny Jimenez—who has a full time day job as exec chef for the Boardwalk—they have launched three-course, prix fixe dinners ($60) of restaurant caliber.
“This is my ebb and flow,” says L’Esperance. “I still want to be present for my kids, but also have some fun.” The typical life of a restaurant chef is bonkers, hardly conducive for a smooth family flow. And so this is a cook finding balance.
“I love orchestrating a full dining experience…I just love all of it. I’m the epitome of hospitality, I could never do anything else,” she adds.
Once every month, seasonally slanted menus are developed (but not posted anywhere, so it’s always a surprise) in this new, yet often sold out venue. The shop is classed up a bit, with tablecloths, glassware, real flowers and tealights, plus beer and wine for purchase.
The March Supper Club started with a bread basket accompanied with charred spring onion compound butter that was irresistible. Then for the first course you could choose the baby romaine Caesar salad with brioche breadcrumbs or the broccolini salad with Castelvetrano olives, farmers cheese and pickled shallots.
Second course entrée options included a roast chicken thigh with fennel, peas and potato puree or first of the season halibut filet with asparagus sauce and pancetta or the Paccheri pasta dish with an unbelievably creamy vegan “Alfredo” sauce made of spring onions.
Two desserts were on offer, a vanilla panna cotta with grapefruit and mint or the “Ding Dong”, made with their C9 signature chocolate cake batter (L’Esperance says their chocolate bundt cake has a cult following), hazelnut cream and ganache. All were delicious and memorable, and creatively prepared with limited equipment in the pocket-sized kitchen.
The April Supper Club takes place Friday, April 19 and there are two seatings, 5pm and 7pm. Watch the Coffee 9 Instagram account for future dates. Also on tap are more casual, no reservation dinner events, to enjoy there or for pick up. Think tacos and the like. And don’t miss chef Mo’s wide selection of quiches, which she personally makes herself.
C9 Supper Club at Coffee 9 9505 Highway 9, Ben Lomond | coffeenine.com
About the author
Amber Turpin is a freelance food and travel writer based in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
