We couldn’t find the coffee experience we wanted. So we built it.

A man with glasses, a headscarf, and a long-sleeve shirt is making coffee with a manual espresso machine in a coffee shop, with a large plant in a glass vase on the counter.
Black and white photo of a woman with long dark hair, smiling, holding a white mug of coffee or tea, sitting at a table in a cafe with large windows and trees outside.
Black and white photo of a woman with long dark hair, smiling, holding a white mug of coffee or tea, sitting at a table in a cafe with large windows and trees outside.

Our story

Domonique’s and Melanie’s story has always featured coffee.

Mel liked “coffee” before they met. You know the kind — more creamer than coffee, picked up at a drive-thru window, and with the general assumption that bolder (darker) meant better. Then she met Dom, a longtime barista with a serious gift for making drinking coffee an experience, and suddenly she had two new loves in her life: him and coffee with standards.

Dom spent more than a decade behind the bar, and even after moving into other work (he’s also a musician and college professor), coffee never really left him. Melanie always knew it wouldn’t. She had been saying for years that they’d eventually own a coffee business of their own because some talents are just too good to keep in the kitchen.

Then they moved closer to family and landed where really good coffee was hard to find. After Dom made a pour-over for a friend who was genuinely blown away, something clicked: maybe they didn’t need to wait for better coffee to show up. Maybe, with his coffee knowledge and heart for hospitality, her expertise in communications and marketing and their solid partnership, they could bring it themselves.

Then came Zyair, their third great love, and the one who changed the whole plot. Becoming parents shifted the way they thought about family, time and what they wanted to build together. Suddenly, life was happening in milestone moments they wanted to savor. Kinda like a good cup of coffee.

Toussaint grew out of all of it: Dom’s craft, Melanie’s belief in him, Zyair’s inspiration — and his middle name — and their shared love of good coffee, good people, and creating spaces that feel warm, soulful, and dope.

Turns out, the coffee business Melanie always knew was coming just needed the right moment. And the right little muse.

A family of three sitting on an outdoor sofa at a patio, with a woman holding a baby and a man sitting beside them, smiling. The woman is wearing sunglasses and a hat, while the man is wearing sunglasses and casual attire. In the background, there are patio chairs, umbrellas, and trees.
A family of three sitting on an outdoor sofa at a patio, with a woman holding a baby and a man sitting beside them, smiling. The woman is wearing sunglasses and a hat, while the man is wearing sunglasses and casual attire. In the background, there are patio chairs, umbrellas, and trees.