News
Coffee Bar's A Hot Stop At LS Train Station
By Sherry Conohan
LITTLE SILVER - The idea for Hanan Shauriki's gourmet coffee bar at the Little Silver Railroad station sprung from his frustration at not being able to find a cup of coffee nearby when he took his four-year-old daughter to her ballet class at the Dance Plus studio across the railroad tracks from the Little Silver station.
"I'm a coffee drinker.
I'm very passionate about coffee," he asserted.
He said he decided he wanted to open a coffee bar and went to Borough Hall to inquire about possible sites. He was told there about the concession stand at the Little Silver railroad station that had been closed for about six months.
Shauriki put in a bid, along with some others, and was awarded the contract for running the concession last September. He was allowed a few weeks to get set up with all new "high tech" equipment and opened for business on November 9.
"I took a look at this and I definitely fell in love with the architecture of the building, it's such an historical building, and I could see a modern city-like coffee bar, an espresso bar, that could cater to the community," he said. "I tried to create a concept that it caters to the community, all the vendors are from the community, so it's kind of supporting the small businesses within a zip code. I just bring the city (experience) into the suburbs - so close to the city, yet so far."
Whereas some coffee shops are newspaper purveyors first of all, which happen to serve coffee, he said his business is a coffee bar first, which happens to sell newspapers. As word spread of his gourmet coffees, non-commuters began to show up just to get a cup of coffee, he continued. They use the 15-minute parking spaces and his personal parking spaces next to the station.
The coffees that he stocks are a breakfast blend, which is a South American mix; Sumatra, a dark French roast; organically grown Mexican; Brazilian, also organically grown, decaf, and a Northern Italian espresso blend.
He serves them straight, and as espressos, cappuccinos, chais and lattes.
He also offers a wide variety of organic teas.
An attractive counter overlooking the tracks where the trains come in to the station has all the accoutrements to go with the coffees and teas.
All are presented with a background of soft jazz.
Shauriki takes pride in the freshness of his coffee and the cleanliness of his stand.
"This coffee is as fresh as it can be," he said. "I think people recognize the difference what a fresh cup of coffee is."
Shauriki, who lives in Oceanport with his wife Dialsen and three daughters, ages four-and-a-half, three, and four months, opens his coffee bar at 4:45 a.m., stopping at local bakeries on the way in to pick up fresh bagels, muffins and pastries. He usually stays open until 10 minutes to 11 a.m., although he said he sometimes closes at 10 a.m. He's the lone operator. "I run the place," he explained. "Nobody helps me."
At least twice a week, he said he goes into New York to pursue his longtime career as a freelance hairdresser, doing fashion shows and magazine work.
Shauriki, a native of Israel, did not enter the coffee bar business without some experience. He owned a coffee bar in Tel Aviv before coming to the United States when he was 21. Now 40, he lived in New York City until moving to Oceanport to accommodate his growing family before his youngest daughter was born last October 21, two-and-a-half weeks before he opened the coffee bar.
His wife is a Jersey Girl, he said, who was living in Tinton Falls when they met six years ago and steered the family to Monmouth County at the time they moved out of the city. New York, he noted, has two or three coffee shops in every block, from mom and pop operations to Starbucks.
He's pleased now with his station operation - with commuters and non-commuters who give him "incredible" feedback - and the ebb and flow of the crowd with the arrival of each train.
"It's like a roller coaster - people come and go," he said, explaining that he tidies up the place between trains. "It's controlled chaos, as I call it."
