Following the scare, longtime employees Emile and Stacy Lauriat stepped up to take over ownership at the coffee shop’s new location in Westlake Square when it reopened in 2018.
“It was actually kind of a critical moment for Trianon,” Stacy said. “We almost lost Trianon forever.”
Due to the leasing issues at the shopping center, the owners had some serious questions about what was going to happen to the coffee shop, she said.
However, Stacy said they saw it as an opportunity to save a little piece of old Austin. In 1985, when Trianon first opened, the landscape of coffee in Austin was very different, Emile said.
“Starbucks wasn’t around yet, and there wasn’t a coffee shop in every town,” he said.
Even when they moved to Austin in 2003, Emile said the coffee scene was not how it is today.
“In 1985, [Trianon was] really ahead of the curve as there weren’t too many independent coffee roasters yet,” he said.
At one point Trianon even had three locations; two of them eventually closed, but the original one stayed open for over 35 years under six different owners.
“We like to think of ourselves as stewards of this place,” Stacy said. “Trianon was Trianon before we were here, and I hope Trianon stays Trianon long after we’re gone.”
One of the things Emile said he loves about his job is that he gets to select where Trianon’s coffee beans are being harvested from; these include places such as Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Guatemala.
By working with the farmers and learning about the region where a specific type of coffee plant is grown, Emile and Stacy said they are also able to tell the story of the region and its coffee.
“If you’re a story-driven person, you can find the story about coffee that really appeals to you,” he said.
Some of the coffee in certain areas is produced by women, or the coffee is fair trade, which means it was produced in an area that upholds fair-trade standards that support small-time farmers in developing countries and prohibit child labor and forced labor, Emile said.
“Whatever speaks to you, hopefully you can find it on the [coffee] wall,” Emile said.Trianon Coffee3654 Bee Caves Road, Ste. A., Austin
512-328-4033
www.trianoncoffee.com
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-7 p.m.,
Sun. 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
