Late night cravings are rarely insatiable at the DeBilzan family’s Nipomo home, thanks to its patriarch’s improvisation skills in the kitchen.
“He’s very capable of making things out of nothing,” Michelle DeBilzan said of her husband, Ben, who often enjoys the challenge of pulling together elevated midnight snacks solely from “whatever’s left in the fridge.”
Ben has worked in the culinary industry since youth and held positions at various restaurants throughout his career before he and Michelle decided to start their own business in 2019.
“My claim to fame was always that I can walk into anybody’s kitchen and throw together a multi-course meal, and I don’t care what you have, I’ll figure it out,” Ben said with a laugh.
Ben and Michelle have spent the past five years operating their food truck, DeBilz & Family Mobile Kitchen, and are planning to open their first brick-and-mortar restaurant, Cafe DeVille, in Nipomo by the end of February or early March at the latest.
After a few months of renovations at their upcoming space, the former site of Mother Shuckers on South Thompson Road, the couple began hosting food truck pop-up events at the venue to give the community a teaser trailer version of Cafe DeVille—which will serve many of the mainstay burger and sandwich offerings the family’s mobile eatery is known for.
While the restaurant’s interior will open to the public upon Cafe DeVille’s official debut, the food truck pop-ups are held in the new venue’s spacious outdoor patio.
“The back patio is so important to us. I think it’s important to everybody, especially after the shutdown,” Ben said. “Everybody got really comfortable eating outside.”
The couple’s goal is to make Cafe DeVille as inviting and approachable for families and kids as possible, the kind of place a youth baseball coach would feel comfortable sitting their whole team down at a picnic table, Michelle said.
“We wanted families to come in and hang out at our place, and make it feel like our backyard,” said Michelle, who added that many patrons of the patio pop-ups so far have enjoyed ordering the eatery’s shareable offerings.
“We get a lot of couples that come in and just want to split a sandwich, have a glass of wine or beer, sit outside, and enjoy the weather, and then head out,” Michelle said. “Shareables are big for us, and we know that there’s a big need for that, with a lot of people working on a budget, wanting to go out and eat, but not spend $100.”
Sliders, steak bites, garlic fries, and skewer items will be among some of Cafe DeVille’s upcoming shareable offerings geared toward families and groups, whether the occasion is a momentous get-together or a quick snack outing.
“We’re really not entree driven. We’re more appetizer and shareable-driven than anything,” Ben said. “We really want it to be approachable for families; easy to walk in with your kids, or if you want to come in for an early snack before you go out to dinner.”
Various sandwiches available from the food truck set to carry over to Cafe DeVille include the hot pastrami sandwich and the signature breakfast sandwich—offered beyond traditional breakfast hours and assembled with a fried egg, beef patty, bacon, cheddar cheese, grilled peppers and onions, tomato, balsamic vinegar, and aioli on a brioche bun.
Some items on Cafe DeVille’s menu will rotate based on what kinds of fresh ingredients are available locally—and from Michelle’s garden specifically.
“I have a half-acre portion on our property where I grow all of our herbs,” said Michelle, who grows basil and oregano, and heirlooms during tomato season. “Part of what we plan to do is work with the seasons, so there will be times when we pull out specials just because we’d like to have fun with it and change it up.
“It’d be silly not to work with the seasons in an area like this,” Michelle added, “where we have such great access to so many different fresh foods.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wants breakfast for lunch and dinner. Send bacon to [email protected].
