San Juan Capistrano-based brewery, Docent Brewing, is poised to make the trek slightly further south into San Clemente, with a new outpost that will be taking over the former Village Mediterranean Rim space at 123 Avenida Del Mar in about 30 days if all goes well, according to co-founder Scott Cortellessa.
“We hope to be open in about a month from now,” Cortellessa tells What Now Orange County. “We’re not doing any major construction, so it’s really just kind of a paint and furniture flip to make it easy to get through the process, which can be daunting and time-consuming if you start tearing stuff apart.”
Standing at about 1,100 square feet, Docent San Clemente will feature a tasting room and a kitchen, with a menu of “Mountaineer Rolls,” sandwiches, bowls, salads, and sides that are similar to its flagship brewery location.
“It just gives us an opportunity to connect with the San Clemente community, offer our goods there on Avenida Del Mar which we think is just a prime location,” says Cortellessa. “That’s mainly why we did it, even though it’s a tiny little spot, we thought the visibility for our brand would be great there on that street.”
Meanwhile, last June our sister site What Now San Diego reported that Docent Brewing would be opening another outpost even further south at 3060 State Street in Carlsbad Village. However, given some “challenges” that property’s landlord has been facing with the city, those plans have moved a bit slower than the Docent team hoped.
“The location was just an old T-structure cottage that they had to do a lot of work – extensive work – and studies to flip it to a restaurant-type operation. But they’ve finally got their permit and I believe they’re going to start hammering any day,” says Cortellessa, adding, “We’re optimistic that it’s fall for an actual opening.”
Having launched its mission in 2017, Docent Brewing enjoys the distinction as San Juan Capistrano’s first brewery and operates under the auspices of Cortellessa, co-founder and “Jack of all Trades,” as well as co-founder and “Idea Man,” Brian Hendon, Bryan Giesen – aka the “Alchemist” – and Uncle Bert Giesen, the “Brewery Ninja.”
“We’re really excited to connect with San Clemente,” says Cortellessa, “and again, hopefully, we’re pulling it off in about 30 days.
