In the early morning, before dawn, Meredith Miller and her baking crew hustled through their new kitchen, prepping and mixing dough for their restaurant’s most sought-after goodies.
By 7 a.m. on Friday, June 27, there were platters of cinnamon rolls, biscuits and scones heaped in a glass case ready for hungry patrons.
There were also the ingredients for other classic Coffee Importers offerings, such as the ever-popular Dana and California bagels, sandwiches, salads, espresso drinks, lattes and smoothies. By 8:30 a.m., two cash registers each had lines of more than 10 customers waiting. By 9:30, there were no open seats, and a line of people stretched out the door.
It was opening day for the restaurant, one of Dana Point Harbor’s oldest businesses. Now, in its 46th year, the popular family-owned eatery is in its third generation and has relocated to a new location, still at the harbor but now by the Ocean Institute.
Instead of just a few tables with views of the boat docks closer to Dana Wharf, the restaurant now sits at the front of the institute next to an outdoor deck with tables — and the original green umbrellas — that can seat 70 people. Inside, there is room for 30. The new location has a panoramic harbor view that includes Baby Beach, the West Basin with its docks, slips and boaters, the jetty and all the comings and goings at the harbor’s entrance.
Among the early morning patrons was Donna Kalez, who operates Dana Wharf Sport Fishing and Whale Watching, the harbor’s first business.
A huge fan of Coffee Importers and its owner, Jim Miller — who took over operations from his parents in 1984, after the business opened in 1979 —
Kalez was there to support Coffee Importers and its owner, Jim Miller, who took over operations from his parents in 1984, and his daughter, Meredith Miller, with whom he has partnered in the eatery’s re-imagining.
“Coffee Importers has been an iconic part of Dana Point Harbor,” Kalez said, adding that she grew up going to the restaurant when her father, Don Hansen, who opened his whale watching and sportfishing business in the harbor in 1971. Hansen and Jim Miller ran the harbor’s merchant association together, and for Kalez, Miller and his daughter, Meredith, are family. “I’m so excited for his next chapter and I’m so proud of Meredith.”
Meredith Miller, who has been baking since she was a child, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York and was once the executive pastry chef at St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta.
“When I was a kid, all I wanted to do after school was come home and bake,” she said. “It’s something very satisfying, kinda a zen place for me.”
And, Jim Miller has always wanted to bring his daughter’s talent to the family business.
With Meredith Miller now running the kitchen operations, it’s an opportunity to introduce baked goods to Coffee Importers’ deli menu, the duo said. The bakery will be named Rubee June Bakey & Cafe, a nod to two family matriarchs.
The deli restaurant and its nearby Scoop Deck, a place people went for ice cream, have been go-to destinations for people refueling after a jaunt around the harbor, to meet friends, hold business meetings or a place to chill.
Now, with the in-house bakery, Meredith Miller plans to add traditional American baked goods such as southern biscuits, honey bran muffins, bear claws, cinnamon rolls and homemade jams.
The biscuits drew raves when she introduced them at Boneyards, a beach cafe she ran for her father at Doheny State Park, which closed in 2019. Two other favorites from Boneyards, a biscuit sandwich with fried eggs and roasted garlic aioli and the cafe’s signature burger, are coming to the new location.
“The concept is to stay the same with small tweaks,” Meredith Miller said.
One difference is that instead of placing an order, getting a buzzer and then going to a counter to get food and drinks, wait staff will now bring orders out to customers. Beer and wine will also be served, but there will be no more ice cream.
“That’s really hard, we’ve had ice cream (at the Scoop Deck) for 43 years,” Jim Miller said. “People loved it and they’re bummed. But we’re shifting gears to make it more of a cafe. It’s another level up.”
Jim Miller said he decided to relocate his operation to the Ocean Institute because he was uncertain about the timing of Dana Point Harbor’s renovation and the potential for impacts on his business.
The harbor is undergoing a $550 million renovation by Dana Point Harbor Partners, which won a 66-year lease in 2018 from the OC Board of Supervisors. In addition to a new marina and two hotels, the project also includes a new 120,000-square-foot commercial core that will house shops, restaurants and public gathering spaces. Coffee Importers was located in an area that will undergo construction in August.
Miller said he began exploring other options and struck a deal for a lease with Wendy Leavell, the CEO and president of the Ocean Institute.
“Everyone was on board,” Miller said. “We’ll still be in Dana Point Harbor and it’s a fantastic opportunity.”
Leavell agrees, saying she sees the cafe as a great opportunity for guests and students visiting the marine education facility. It also marks a milestone as the first time the institute has had a food and beverage service available onsite. The restaurant and cafe will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We didn’t want this simply to be a cafe that is close to Ocean Institute, we wanted it to be a true partner of the Ocean Institute family and part of the experience for our guests,” Leavell said. “This has been an idea in the making for quite some time now, and it is thrilling to have it come to fruition today.”
For the Millers, opening on Friday was both an emotional and exhilarating experience. They closed the old location less than a week ago and had to get things up and running again in just days. Meredith Miller credits the eatery’s staff with their can-do attitudes.
“We couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.
And the exhilaration of the opening wouldn’t have been the same without their longtime, loyal customers, Jim Miller said. “They all came in super excited and congratulated us on a successful opening. It was a very busy day.”
Thirty-year customer Addie Carroll, of Laguna Niguel, said she was in line at 8 a.m.
“I wanted to know what Meredith had coming out fresh from her new kitchen,” she said.
“I had the cinnamon bun and coffee,” she added. “It was amazing. Just the right amount of icing and when you pulled it apart, it had the right amount of cinnamon swirls.”