Taft St. Coffee gets community pushback for links to alleged sexual abuser 

Social media got heated over the weekend of Aug. 19 when San Luis Obispo County residents heard about what's happening with Kin Coffee shop's second location.

Julian Contreras—who, with his friend Nate Abate, faced sexual assault allegations from more than 40 women this April—formerly owned Kin Coffee in Downtown SLO. According to county business records, Contreras's brother Christian owns Taft St. Coffee & Pastries, which is now operating in what used to be Kin's second outlet closer to Cal Poly.

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• Photo By Bulbul Rajagopal
• ALERTING COMMUNITY A former employee at Kin Coffee—the shop once owned by Julian Contreras, who faced numerous sexual assault complaints this April—said that sharing social media posts about Taft St. Coffee's links to Contreras is a way for incoming Cal Poly students to be aware of community history.

On Aug. 19, Instagram was abuzz with reshares of a post made by a local resident asking community members to boycott Taft St. Coffee. The next day, some users received cease and desist letters via Instagram direct messaging (DM) from Taft St. Coffee's account.

One of them was Henry Bruington, the former manager at Kin Coffee, who said he quit that job soon after he heard about the assault allegations. Bruington said he knows roughly four others who also received the messaged letters.

"What's weird is people were sharing it in their [Instagram] stories. The cease and desists said we have five days to remove all posts but those posts disappear in 24 hours. So, I'm not sure what they're trying to accomplish," Bruington said.

The cease and desist letter, signed by a public notary officer named Lola Wingate, told Bruington that he received it due to his "persistent actions including but not limited to (slander, defamation, and business profit loss) due to your social media activity regarding 'Taft Street Coffee.'" The letter went on to state that if Bruington continues "slanderous comments and posts," a harassment lawsuit would be filed against him.

"I don't think they would have anything actionable. If anything, I would want them to waste their money, not me wasting mine. I don't think reposting that story is actionable," Bruington said. "I understand that now, and it's because they've been so cagey about it, Julian isn't the technical owner of Taft St. Coffee but his brother is, and his brother is the co-owner of the first one. It's more about that family profiting off something when nothing has been done to the 40-plus allegations against them."

According to the fictitious business name statement filed with the SLO County Clerk's Office, Taft St. Coffee is registered under a limited liability company named California Coalition LLC. California Secretary of State filings show that the LLC was initially registered in June 2022 with the agent being Maria Antonia Meyers, Contreras's mother. It noted Christian Contreras as the CEO of the business. Taft St. Coffee did not respond to New Times' phone call and Instagram message requesting comment by press time.

However, the shop's Instagram account posted a statement on its profile.

"We do not wish ill will on any coffee shop. To make it clear, we do not have any business relations with any coffee shop nor is any coffee shop 'profiting' from the sales at our establishment," it read. "Anyone who continues to spread misinformation regarding 'Taft St. Coffee' will be faced with legal actions."

Bruington told New Times that it's not a good feeling to have Kin Coffee and its affiliations resurface. He said he and his father helped physically construct both coffee shops.

"It's pretty anxiety-inducing. It was one of the worst times of my life. The business that I had helped grow, to have something so terrible come out of it. My life got upended. But it's also nothing compared to what was done [the sexual abuse complaints]," he said. "The main thing about reposting is that we have a new group of Cal Poly kids who just came into town who have no idea about the history and what happened. It's our job as a community to keep people informed." Δ