Have you met the guy in Richardson who owns an incredibly rare and slow moving Italian Apé? These were first discovered in the 1940’s and the one Jason Hapka cares for happens to put off a super strong aroma. Try pronouncing Apé as Ah-Pay and substitute three wheels for the pair of hairy legs you may have visualized.
Five years ago, Jason tracked down this European scooter to start a new business, the Wound Up Café. Cottonwood Art Festival invited him to participate as a vendor that same year and he continues to participate at the semi-annual show.
“Richardson is home so I love to set-up at Cottonwood Art Festival and Huffhines Art Trails in the city where I grew up.” Jason Hapka
Jason is a former chef who stepped out of the restaurant biz and onto a food truck, “The Little Vessel Grill,” for about a year. People always asked for coffee but it’s never found on a food truck because the machines take up space and require massive power. The Wound Up Café offers the public delicious custom coffee choices, including the signature “Chai-Co Latte” that is three drinks combined including hot chocolate. During the warmer seasons the iced latte, and passion fruit boysenberry tea are served as refreshing favorites.
“The aroma, with a little help from a breeze, is my biggest marketing ploy. People say they can smell the coffee from a mile away.”
The Wound Up Café serves up thousands of cups of coffee each year, leaving a dirt-like discard of used, water packed, finely ground, coffee beans. As a community-minded citizen, Jason reached out to Project Eden, one of three gardens partnered with the City of Richardson. An average of 60-100 pounds of coffee grounds are regularly dumped into their organic compost pile. Coffee grounds are close to pH neutral (between 6.5-6.8 pH), they improve soil tilth, and help repel slugs and snails in gardens.
Customers often ask about the branded vehicle that represents the company. While this model is designed to carry about 200 lbs, Jason has modified the vehicles suspension to hold more than 1,000 lbs of equipment and product inventory. Unless the driver lightens the load, it will likely not surpass a speed of 15 mph, which would otherwise cruise at about 45 mph. The Wound Up Café is transported distances on a trailer since it is not a registered motor vehicle to be driven on the road.
Jason’s wife Angela is not only his business partner, but also the company’s favorite barista during the busy season and weekends. The Wound Up Café is available for private events, company parties, corporate meetings, trade shows, and more at an average starting fee of $200 per hour. Follow Jason and his Apé on Facebook and be sure to meet him in person May 6-7, 2017 at the Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson, Texas.
Find out more information about the City of Richardson Community Gardens or additional details about Project Eden may be found via these site: