[MUSIC] The first time I had a cup of Mexican coffee was seven years ago now.

When I first tried it, Copa Vida on the bar as a barista.

I was like, why isn't there more of this?

We had it at single orgin.

It was from Oaxaca.

I was like, this is amazing.

I always felt that Mexican coffee was underrepresented in the United States.

Especially as a barista on the bar, I never would really see a coffee from where my people are from.

I'm Mexican American, I'm not from Mexico, I'm from here and I grew up around a lot of the culture.

I know there's good Mexico coffee because when I was in Tijuana, I had phenomenal cups from all different regions.

There has to be a way to bring this over to the States.

[MUSIC] That's why Provecho resonates with so many people.

Anybody from any color or background or whatever, you can come here and have a good cup of coffee.

I think that's why people can relate so well because they feel, I can go there, it's in Logan Heights.

It's my neighborhood.

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[MUSIC] San Diego, I think of three things.

Music, art and personality.

I think those three really exemplify what San Diego bayou truly is.

And coffee kind of ties all of this in and brings people together.

San Diego has so many coffee shops that are barista owned.

It's a new wave of coffee where all the roasters now, are former baristas.

[MUSIC] This just makes the experience so much better because it comes from a place of passion.

[MUSIC] As a consumer of coffee, people always make fun of me for not making coffee at home.

But why would I make coffee at home when there's so many places that I can go and have amazing experiences?

I generally love to see everybody's personality come to life in the four walls of their coffee shop.

Being near the border, Chula Vista, National City, that's all one really cool part.

Right now we're located in Barrio Logan, which I always say it's the heart of the city.

The history of the city, and now because it's such an important cultural center, it exemplifies the future of the city.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] When Gerardo told me that this project was going to happen, to have a former barista homegrown from San Diego, to have a space right in the middle of this beautiful art gallery is just the best thing I could ever think of.

[MUSIC] I grew up around here in Logan Heights.

My grandparents live on 33rd and commercial by a Lew's market.

It's like literally three minutes away from the cafe.

[MUSIC] Growing up, I didn't speak Spanish.

My dad never wanted to teach me Spanish because he thought I would get made fun of in school.

[MUSIC] When I had to check the box at school, what a ethnicity are you?

I didn't know what to put.

I never felt like Mexican.

I never felt American.

[MUSIC] Chicano was maybe the closest thing I felt.

- We want to go to the Part Time Lover event Ah you're going to go?

Super!

- For a little while It was a really beautiful experience to grow up here in this neighborhood and see it grow and change.

[MUSIC] Just for me to open my first business really close to where I'm from it resonates alot with me.

[MUSIC] [SPEAKING SPANISH] If I could describe Gerardo I think it would be...b a dreamer hardworking and very passionate My mom and my dad, they both worked a lot My mom worked at Starbucks.

[MUSIC] She met some of her best friends there.

I can really relate to that now that I've worked in coffee.

I met my wife.

I met some of my best friends.

A lot of them work with me, at Provecho.

[MUSIC] I ended up getting into hospitality, learning a little more about what I like.

[MUSIC] I think the biggest thing that played a big role in who I am now is my dad.

The reason why I got into cooking is because my dad was getting so sick where he couldn't really make food for himself.

I like taking care of people and I think hospitality is like, that's what we do.

I take it very serious.

I want you to be okay.

I want you to be good.

[MUSIC] This stretch of coast has been like a place where people can come and relax.

[MUSIC] I wanted to be happy, uplifting, and I think coffee is something that brings joy to people.

I wanted that to really blend and mesh together really well.

Bringing coffees to San Diego that have unique and exciting traits to them, that is one sliver of like what we do here.

We have an ongoing menu.

We are putting out drinks that are exciting and fun to us.

[MUSIC] A big part of that is Curtis.

He has a gifted mind at creating some outstanding beverages.

- Good morning guys.

How are you?

- Alright, Sam, here's the [MUSIC] We really try to push the envelope.

This drink called the Leftovers.

It is a spiced cranberry coffee soda.

We charge this whole beverage, really make it really crisp, really bubbly.

It's not an espresso tonic.

It's not a flash brew.

We really wanted to make a coffee soda that was made like a soda.

Our spiced pistachio, slow roasted pistachios and cardamom pods, incorporate that with a nice granular cane sugar that we then take into a cap.

[MUSIC] Working in coffee for, you know, 12 plus years.

It's people who are working on bar that keep these spaces open and keep people coming back.

And I appreciate that.

[MUSIC] I was cooking on the line at Copa Vida.

I got the phone call from the doctor and the doctor was like, I need to talk to you.

It's about your dad.

It's really important.

And I told him, I can't talk to you, dude.

I'm really busy.

And I put the phone down.

We had like 20 tickets.

We were really busy.

I ended up taking the phone call and he's like, hey, you need to come to the hospital.

That whole like moment when he was like really sick didn't feel right for me because I had to decide for someone's life.

My dad was always a big supporter of me.

Stay with me in my house as long as you want, like save money to open your restaurant, your coffee shop.

[MUSIC] My favorite moment with my dad when I was a younger barista, I would go compete in latte throwdowns.

There was one, I told my sister and my dad, I'm like, hey, do you guys want to go?

I'm going to go compete.

And my dad said yes.

He never likes to go to like public places like that.

He was very like to himself and kind of quiet.

I told my dad, I'm like, hey, you look really bored.

Dad, we can go.

I don't really care about the prize.

Like, let's go get ice cream.

Let's get food and just hang out.

He stayed and got into it.

And I think he saw like how much I liked it.

And I think that really, that's like the first, sorry.

It was a good time for me.

I didn't know I was gonna.

[MUSIC] I'm sorry, guys.

I haven't talked about this in a while.

[MUSIC] I had to be like strong for everybody else at that time.

It was rough.

When he passed away, I was in this like transitionary period of what I wanted to do.

I made myself really busy.

I took my job too serious.

I worked way more than I should have.

I never gave myself a chance to like feel.

[MUSIC] - I have the Golden Hill Latte, hot with oat milk - Thank you.

Yeah.

Yes.

You're welcome.

- Hi there.

How are y'all?

My relationship with Dani is really close.

We're both kind of outsiders in this industry.

I'm one of the first Latino traders in the industry.

And then she's a female roaster.

It's just really cool to see how through thick and thin she stuck to this dream.

Now that she's in Ocean Beach, I feel like it's just the perfect segue into this new era of Ultreya, exemplifying what it wants to be.

[MUSIC] Ultreya actually comes from a book I read, The Camino Santiago.

When people pass each other by, it means like, I see you on your journey and I wish you well.

To wish somebody well on their journey as they stop in for coffee, we may never see him again or we see him every day.

It's kind of a cool greeting.

Cold brew is my drink of choice.

It makes me feel happy and excited the way you can extract the flavors from the cold brew bean It's so creamy and delicious and I do think it makes people happy.

The colors that we use are so vibrant, very San Diego, very sunshiney.

I know it's cliche but like sunshine in a cup.

[MUSIC] When I grew up in the Midwest, it was like the winters were so dark and dreary and to me, sometimes coffee reminds me of sunshine and excitement.

What adventure do we have going on today instead of like being cold and having a hot cup of coffee?

So I love that San Diego is vibrant in that way.

It just feels motivating in a way but also chill at the same time.

I started doing coffee here in 2007.

I am so excited to be back in Ocean Beach sharing my coffee.

It's a full circle moment.

To be here among my friends and even people visiting and to be able to give that experience is so exciting.

I feel like the sun is shining again in a way and it just feels like right where I was meant to be.

What is really important about the San Diego identity is this connection to Tijuana.

Tijuana and San Diego, a lot of people don't know but it's one metropolitan area.

Especially in coffee, the two communities have been communicating with each other for a long time.

There started to be this beautiful bi-national community that started.

LA, a very important coffee mecca, is near San Diego.

A lot of people from Tijuana started going into LA.

So it was like Tijuana getting influenced by LA and the Guadalupe Valle and everything that's going on in the culinary scene there.

Those inspirations are now inspiring in San Diego and now there's an explosion of coffee.

And it's beautiful to see, not just coffee shops opening, but very intentional roasters with very clear themes and ethos popping up.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] I grew up on a ranch where we always drank coffee.

When I finsihed university I started exploring coffee shops I discovered specialty coffee, when it was just starting in Tijuana.

And I posted my latte art pictures on Instagram.

So, Instagram's algorithm led me to his Instagram.

I met Karem on Instagram.

I sent her a message.

I asked her if she wanted to go out in Tijuana.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] I dont know why I decided to reply to Gerardo and chat with him But, he spoke Spanish But, he used Google translate, but he talked to me in English She was like, "Oh my God, this guy doesn't speak any Spanish.

but he has like a Mexican name."

[SPEAKING SPANISH] I was like "You dont speak Spanish?"

In my mind I was like... No, I can't believe it.

We went to eat at this Chinese restaurant in Tijuana.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] While we were eating, I said "provecho."

(Enjoy your meal) He said he was surprised by that word.

I explained that it's like... Where I'm from, in the middle of Mexico It's very polite to say "provecho" Good morning, good afternoon, to everyone.

In my head at that moment I was having like a brain blast of thinking, I'm like, "Oh my God, that's a really good name.

I got to do something with that."

And I was like, "I have to open a business one day called Provecho."

[SPEAKING SPANISH] For me, it was very important to say "provecho" And for him it meant something at that moment.

When he decided that he wanted something.

He said, "I already have the name."

That's when it became "Provecho."

With "Provecho," with a new city living together.

Doing so many things together.

It's crazy to think How it all started.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] For me, "Provecho" is... Love.

[MUSIC] Before Jaunt became my home, I started the coffee cart at an office park in 2014.

It was actually started by my wife on National Coffee Day.

I had an internship in visual marketing.

At the end of that internship, it offered me a job, but I refused it so that I would work with my wife.

The customer interaction, people telling me about their days, what they did on the weekend.

To me it was a lot more fun.

That was one part of it.

The other part of it, which I think you're going to hear pretty much every single coffee professional tell you, is when they had that first Ethiopian natural coffee.

I taste blueberries in the coffee?

When I had that experience myself, that's like, "Oh my gosh, what is this?

Coffee can be this?"

[MUSIC] I met Jimmy 11 years ago.

He built a relationship not just with me, but with the other people.

One of them was Mary June, who's an artist.

At his shop, you can see a beautiful mural by Mary, and it's kind of like the core aesthetic of the shop.

I feel like that speaks to his loyalty to these relationships.

I love being in San Diego.

I've been here for about 14 years now.

Every year you see more and more coffee shops popping up.

More people roasting their own coffee, which I think is great.

The smaller companies that are making a true community impact.

As long as they keep pushing specialty, and maybe one day that is the norm, that is the standard.

I think it would be great for everyone.

[MUSIC] If you asked me like five years ago if I wanted to have a cafe, I'd be like, "Yeah, that would be awesome."

I didn't expect it to be where it is right now, and it's really cool to have that that got shifted.

The connection of how we're here is pretty crazy.

Jerry...

He's amazing.

He's one of the big reasons why we are in this space.

He text me one day "Hey, I'm coming to your pop-up in South Park."

With my friend Isabel, who owns Bread and Salt.

Jerry gives her my number.

She calls me the next week.

"Hey, this is Isabel from Bread and Salt I love what you're doing.

I'd love for you to do something in our space."

The day I quit my job at Blue Bottle.

I get a phone call from her.

We meet up.

We have coffee.

And she gives me the green light to open Provecho, in Bread and Salt.

It's a magical space.

When I get to work on the bar and I see a regular, it's beautiful.

And you can make a break some day with one coffee or one hello.

That's why I love being in barista so much.

Because I got to change someone's experience with like a two-minute exchange.

I'm sure that in hospitality, you just want to give it back.

Not because it's free, but just because of the moment that you had with them, and they keep coming.

I never wanted to wear an apron.

It felt like I was working, working.

I didn't want myself or my team at Provecho to feel like they were just clucking in for a job, put the apron on.

I wanted it more of like an experience.

I wanted something for the barista to feel like, This is my coat.

I'm going to take care of it.

It's everything I want it to be.

And everything it can be.

Art in San Diego and coffee have had a beautiful trajectory together.

A beautiful part of the San Diego coffee community is this constant collaboration.

All the artists are big fans of coffee, and all of them go and get coffee at these places.

It's showing up and serving coffee and brewing for people.

I'm grateful coffee can create a community and create relationships.

And they're all in these five-minute chunks.

Coffee and how it connects people.

It really is from the farms, people growing the coffee to drinking it on the streets.

There's so many beautiful, beautiful hands that touch every single bean that gets to where we're enjoying it.

It's cool because people come to Ocean Beach to drink the coffee, so it's kind of a full circle moment for those producers.

Everyone can get behind coffee.

Everyone can feel the sense of connection, community.

If that is with your partner or your family when you come to the coffee shop, if it's with our baristas, if it's with the space, if it feels like a second home to you.

Think of one thing that makes you really happy and make that the reason why you keep going.

The people that have the biggest impact on my life, who I am now, is my wife, my grandpa, my mom, and my dad.

There's days where I don't want to do anything and I get up, take a shower, I come to the cafe.

No matter how I feel during the day, I have to smile at everybody.

I have to make them the best coffee they're ever going to have in their life.

And the best experience so they come back... and become part of Provecho.