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Establishment Evolves From Social Club to Area Hot Spot

Caf & #233; Sevilla, a Fourth Avenue hot spot, is a success story with humble origins. Back in the late ’80s, it was simply a social club for Spaniards in the community, with a tapas bar. Attracted by the festive atmosphere, people kept drifting in. One enterprising regular at the club, observing all of this, saw the possibilities.

Eric van den Haute, armed with some restaurant management experience back in Europe, shared his vision with owners Janet and Rogelio Huidobro. With about 10 members of the social club shelling out from $5,000 to $10,000 apiece, a full-grown business was launched in 1992, initially employing six.

Now, San Diego-based Sevilla, Inc. has expanded to 8,000 square feet in the same Gaslamp Quarter location, having taken over a neighboring building. Sevilla Catering works out of a central kitchen on Miramar Road serving the Southern California region. Sevilla, Inc. includes a 12,000-square-foot eatery in downtown Riverside called Sevilla of Riverside. And the company plans to open a 16,000-square-foot restaurant in downtown Long Beach, called Sevilla of Long Beach, in June.

Sevilla employs a staff of 220, with 80 more to be hired for the Long Beach establishment. Two years ago, Sevilla launched an e-commerce site, ShopSevilla.com. The site offers such gourmet fare as olives, rice, Spanish sweets, seafood, cheese, sauces, spices, paella kits, wine, flatware, and T-shirts.

Van den Haute, 42, now the chief executive officer of Sevilla, Inc., remembers those early years.

“The original group was 40 or 50 people, a strong community among Spaniards, linked by food and entertainment,” he said. “They had Flamenco singers and guitarists. This was in the late ’80s, and the Gaslamp was not a place you wanted to be.

“I was a customer there, and through the grapevine, I knew they were looking for management,” he recalled. “I thought, ‘Can I make this grow into something people will like?’ Based on my observations, I approached them with a business plan of possibilities, and they gave me the opportunity for a couple of years to do what I wanted to do with it.

“It became a full-blown business, 1,000 square feet,” he said. “The downstairs was taken over and a Flamenco dinner show started.”

The whole operation is projected to take in about $16.5 million in revenue this year, representing a growth rate of about 15 percent to 20 percent, said van den Haute, a Scripps Ranch resident. But none of it has come easily.

“We are changing constantly, remodeling every two years,” said van den Haute. “If you don’t have a good concept, you are doomed. We are permanently questioning ourselves of what we can do better. We’re not reinventing anything. We want to keep the place fresh and interesting to the people. This is where a lot of places fall asleep at the wheel. We have avoided falling into that trap. We have a young, passionate management team. All but two of our management have come from within. These people understand the passion, and they want to be part of it.”

Being a good listener has served van den Haute well.

“I think that in the last 15 years that I’ve run this show, 70 percent of anything we have done has been brought to our attention by the staff at large,” said van den Haute. “We are very careful to listen to them.”

Then, of course, there is the matter of keeping the guests happy.

“We don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “We will call back five to 10 tables a week to find out about their experience. It helps guide us on what to do next.”

The Sevilla team also has been cautious about growing too quickly.

“We build on our own success, and we only do (Small Business Association) loans for real estate,” said van den Haute. “We have little debt; we try to borrow at a minimum. We could have more locations, but we make sure we work for profit and can pay for what we order.

“After Long Beach, it will take a year before another location is considered,” said van den Haute. “It takes awhile to recover from that growth.”

His biggest headache these days is Petco Park , a boon for some, a bane for others.

“It’s been terrible for business,” said van den Haute. “Nothing has come close as a negative issue than the introduction of the ballpark.”

Once the beer, pizza and hot dogs have been devoured, he said, few ballpark denizens have an appetite for a Sevilla-type eatery.

“The traditional clientele in the Gaslamp has been taken aback, and with the high parking fees, it is chasing away our great clientele,” he said.

“From the minute it opened, and no later than the last game day, our revenue was down 20 to 35 percent. The only thing that makes me feel better is the Convention Center business during the season was up, and that helped us survive.

“I’m afraid the Gaslamp will become a bunch of bars, with us losing the ethnic and fine dining. It has been a true calamity.”

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