Oats & Honey Cafe in Creve Coeur will soon bring Latin fusion cuisine to the St. Louis brunch scene

Add a little spice to brunch plans as St. Louis' newest Latin fusion brunch spot gears up to open to the public in March at 624 New Ballas Road in Creve Coeur. Oats & Honey Cafe is the newest venture from Ericka L. Vega, Jorge Maya and Jerry Flores, who currently own and manage Las Fuentes Restaurant locations in Arnold, Oakville, Affton and Florissant.

"Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day; I went to one famous [breakfast] place over there [in Mexico] and I even skipped classes to go eat [there]," Vega said. 

That passion for all things breakfast inspired the trio to create a fusion menu that combines Latin cuisine with traditional American breakfast food. Fusion plates include eggs Benedict with birria meat, chilaquiles topped with egg and avocado, barbacoa tacos, salads and fresh, house-made Mexican pan bread and pastries such as conchas.

"We don't want to say it's all Mexican food, more Latin food, because we're going to feature some dishes from different countries," Maya said. "You will have, for example, an eggs Benedict, but then we're going to be adding chorizo or carnitas – change the style a little bit. Since you have your classic omelet, we're going to have our own twist."

As a nod to the juicerias in Mexico, Maya wanted to bring the experience of serving freshly pressed fruit juices to Oats & Honey, as well as full bar offerings. "We got an extractor [for] extracting fresh juices, so that's half of the bar, and the other half has alcohol," Maya said. “So, it's kind of like healthy for the week and alcohol for the weekend.”

In addition to freshly pressed, organic juices, Oats & Honey will also serve coffee and espresso drinks, bloody marys, screwdrivers and mimosas. Like the complimentary chips and salsa served at Las Fuentes, complimentary mini conchas will be offered to each table at Oats & Honey. 

The café is around 4,000 square feet and has a seating capacity of 105. Large windows let natural light flow in, reflecting off the taffy-colored floors. Vega describes the décor as Bohemian with a modern touch. "I think about this place like healthy, natural and rugged, like the Bohemian style. And you know that they are the colors of the bee and the oats, and prompt you to go inside and understand that it's a healthy and clear place," Vega said. 

Maya said he has plans to one day integrate Bear Robotics' food delivery robot into Oats & Honey's serving staff, allowing food to be delivered to the luxury condos situated above the café. "There's this delivery robot that you can put the food inside the box, and it goes out and it communicates with the elevator, chooses the floor, finds your apartment and delivers to your door," Maya said.

The Creve Coeur restaurant is just the first location in the group's plan to turn Oats & Honey into a franchise. "One of the reasons why it took a little longer is because we've been recording and planning every step of the way. We've been really slow on moving forward with different things, with the logo, with the colors, everything is being recorded for brand to be able to replicated faster in the future," Maya said. 

Expected to open its doors to the public by early March, Oats & Honey Cafe will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Follow Oats & Honey on Facebook and Instagram for updates.