At 39, sporting a baseball cap and casual shirt and jeans, the trim Gol could easily pass as one of his many customers, chatting over a steamy cup of Cafe Latte which, like almost all coffees served here, begins with a double-shot of espresso. Gol will be the first to tell you the idea for Ella Café, which opened in January, came out of his own needs as a coffee-drinking customer.
From there, Gol focused on creating the right ambiance. To him, that wasn't just about designing a trendy space, although he did want to make sure his customers were comfortable with a lounge area featuring plush chairs and a fireplace as well as double A/C to ensure the place stays cool. “I want to sit in a place where I’m not rushed," he says. "I want to have a great atmosphere. I want music playing. I put in a stage where we can have performers.”
While the harpist might sound like an anomaly at most South Florida open mikes, it's actually not that strange here. The clientele at Ella Café is a mixture: Businessmen come for meetings, as do families with young kids who are happy to clamor around the pint-sized kiddie table up front. Yoga moms make it a meet-up spot as well.
Ella Café’s approach to food is the embodiment of the organic process Gol embraces. There’s no actual menu. While the restaurant has branched out, the place still serves baked goods. As people make their way through the narrow entrance, they are greeted by a generous glass case (yes, built by Gol) housing the café’s indulgent homemade sweets. Popular choices are the hybrid doughnut muffin (exactly as it sounds) and the latte cupcake with buttercream icing made from the shop's coffee blend. The Power Bar, a mixture of nuts, chia seeds, and pumpkin seeds held together with honey, caters to gluten-free diets.
Gol's common sense approach and desire to please customers is part of what's making Ella Café such a quick success. “You may like pizza, but you’ll eat it, like, once a week. But coffee is a necessity. People need it every day. So what’s going to happen? Those people are going to come and they’re going to tell people, and then those people are going to come and they’ll tell people. So it’s going to continue to snowball.”
From its inception, Ella Café’s immense popularity has come through word of mouth and Gol’s knack for social media. The café's Instagram account showcases enticing pastries and lunch items beautifully placed on miniature wooden cutting boards, emblazoned with the café’s simple yet tasteful logo. (“We make all the boards at my production company,” Gol beams.)