Tara Amiel Brings Community, Coffee, and More to the Canyon

By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

Tara Amiel was done with the restaurant business when realtor Frank Langen approached her about taking over the Airstream coffee shop at 169 W. Channel Rd.

“I was like, ‘No, thank you,’” Amiel said. But Langen encouraged her to reconsider. “I came down and spent the afternoon with him, and that night I went home to my husband and said, ‘I think I just bought another coffee house.’”

The choice turned out to be the right one. A resident of the Canyon for 32 years, Amiel already had warm relationships with many of her customers, and spending the day at RustiCoffee was a new way to enjoy those friendships.

“I just love the customers,” Amiel said. “I love feeding them, making them happy, and feeling the whole happy vibe down there…. It’s just a lovely little community. It’s not like working. It’s like getting up and going on about your life.”

Much of Amiel’s life has revolved around restaurants. When she was three years old, her mother opened a seafood restaurant in Virginia where Amiel worked throughout her childhood. Then, after graduating from high school, she opened her own restaurant at 18. The venture was not only fulfilling, but also the way she met her future husband, Jon, a British film director who was shooting a movie in the area.

“I wooed him with my cooking,” she said.

Tara Amiel at RustiCoffee

The two married and moved to London, where she enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu London. The competitive cooking school was a stressful experience, but also an enlightening one. After years as a savory cook, she expanded her skills to make delectable pastries.

In 1992, the couple moved to the Canyon, where Langen sold them their first home. While her husband worked in the film business, Amiel ran a catering operation called the Uplifters, and the couple also raised four sons, two who grew up in the Canyon plus her two stepsons who joined them for the summers. Then, in 2018, she became a partner in Estate Coffee, which was on Via de la Paz for several years.

During these years, Langen simultaneously endeavored to open a Canyon coffee shop and frequently discussed the idea with Amiel, but nothing materialized until he invited the Airstream onto his property in 2019.

Two years later, Amiel made the decision to buy it. Both she and Langen wished to make the location a welcoming gathering spot for the community. She upgraded the trailer, while Langen helped her with the chairs and umbrellas on the patio. She also enhanced the coffee shop’s offerings with some of her favorite recipes that she made from organic, locally sourced ingredients.

The community turned out in force for the revived shop and brought their dogs and families to enjoy the offerings.

“People love that they can walk here and bring their dogs and their kids,” Amiel said. “It’s such a lovely mixture of people that it all works. You’re sure to meet someone you know.”

Because the trailer is too compact for a full kitchen, Amiel cooks food at home every day, then fills the Airstream’s little refrigerator with anything that needs to be kept cold. For RustiCoffee’s first two years, Amiel woke at 4:30 a.m. to make all the baked goods, although now she outsources some items so she can sleep until 6. Still, each morning, she bakes pastries and also boils and peels four dozen eggs for a traditional Southern egg salad.

Chicken salad and avocado toast are two more of their popular dishes, while Amiel also brings in specials, including soups, frittatas, and hot sandwiches in the winter. A chicken caprese sandwich flits in and out of the menu, while homemade orange cranberry scones, mixed berry scones, and nut protein bars entice people who want a treat. In addition, their slate of drinks, including Stumptown coffee, fruit smoothies, and date shakes, are well loved by many customers.

Unfortunately, the Palisades Fire caused a massive disruption in the business, just as it did for most places in the Canyon. A lack of water and power kept restaurants closed for about six weeks, and then traffic closures continued to keep people away. In addition, the tragic loss of so many homes reduced the customer base. Recently, Amiel said her business has returned to about 70 percent of what it would normally be at this time of year.

She joined the new Canyon Business Association to work with other local business owners to help the situation, and she has been able to keep all five of her full-time employees, who have been with the coffee shop since the beginning. She also still cherishes her shop.

“I've been in food service for so long that I can't really think of anything else I'd rather do,” she said. “It’s a labor of love and a passion project.”

RustiCoffee is open seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.