Jonas Hebert is applying the experience he gained through Church Alley Café to his upcoming coffee shop in Loreauville.

Church Alley Café celebrated new owner, Jonas Hebert, with a Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting ceremony.

The café traded hands earlier this year when former owner, Mark Delahoussaye, realized he couldn’t dedicate the same attention to the café as he could in the past. He didn’t want to simply sell the shop, but he wanted to find someone who appreciates the café for more than just coffee, so he chose Hebert.

Hebert started out as an electrician, but had an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to achieve more. He started and expanded Gridic Electrical Services, a professional electricians’ company, which gave him the funds and freedom to branch out into one of his passions: Coffee. 

After Jonas stopped drinking alcohol, he developed a newfound love for coffee. He appreciated that, much like an expensive bourbon, coffee is incredibly complex and rich and it poses the same challenges as bourbon in developing a refined palette. 

After immersing himself in the world of coffee, Jonas decided to open a coffee shop in Loreauville. At that time, former owner Delahoussaye, and Jonas’s classmate in Leadership Iberia, realized running the café strained his professional capacity. Mark spends a significant amount of time in Texas for his career, so owning and operating a café in New Iberia posed a challenge.

To the city, this might just be a coffee shop, but to us it’s something more. It’s about faith, family, which is behind me right here, and it’s about friends,” Hebert said.

Delahoussaye originally bought the building in July 2021, and began the arduous renovation process. Church Alley Café officially opened January 2022. He also owns the Airbnb on the corner of Church Alley. Despite having grown up in New Iberia, Delahoussaye never knew Church Alley existed, so when he came back to New Iberia, the alley caught his attention. 

“It was in terrible shape when we got it, so we did 6 months of full renovations. I am fully invested, and I love Church Alley,” Delahoussaye said.

When Delahoussaye learned about Jonas’s plan to open a coffee shop, he presented him an opportunity to take over the café and take advantage of it’s established position, licensing and popularity. He was then able to apply the business model of Church Alley Café to his burgeoning coffee shop. After seeing how passionate he was for both coffee and local business, Delahoussaye said passing it down to Jonas was the obvious choice.

“I can’t think of anyone better to pass on not the torch, but the coffee mug,” Delahoussaye concluded.