Coffee shop gets new owners, but mission is the same

Jacob Kepler/ViewRejavanate?s new owners John Abbasnezhad, left, and Hercules Cummings sit inside the coffee shop at 3300 E. Flamingo Road. JACOB KEPLER/VIEWRejavanate customers enjoy some coffee during lunch. The shop?s new owners, Hercules Cummings and John Abbasnezhad, said they plan to promote the arts and community service at the store. Advertisement

Coffee, culture, conversation and candor have been staples at southeast Las Vegas hotspot Rejavanate, 3300 E. Flamingo Road, since the coffee shop opened three years ago.

Now, with new opportunities beckoning, previous owners Bruce Ewing, a professional actor and vocalist who can be seen nightly in "Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" at The Venetian, and Greg Davis, a semi-retired professional actor who has been a part of productions including "Forever Plaid," have sold the shop and passed the coffee beans to John Abbasnezhad and Hercules Cummings.

"Our lives have been going in different directions," Davis said. "Mine and Bruce's dream was to run this coffee shop together, but with other jobs and obligations calling us away, it has really been tough to make that happen. So, we agreed that if the right person came along, we would sell."

The right people came along in the shape of Abbasnezhad and Cummings, former naval officers and friends who spend their spare time volunteering with local charities. "It's really strange the way that it happened," Abbasnezhad said. "We decided that we wanted to open up a coffee shop, and we were going around to different shops around town, just asking for advice from current owners."

"After explaining our vision to one of the owners of a chain, she directed us here," Cummings said. "She said that we should come talk with Greg and Bruce because they were already doing what we were hoping to do."

What the pair hoped to do was open a cultural mecca of sorts, where local musicians, artists, writers and poets could converge to discuss and promote their work.

"Bruce and Greg had a great thing going here," Abbasnezhad said. "For the most part, this place is going to stay the same. We're making minor changes here and there, but the core of Rejavanate won't change."

Abbasnezhad, 24, and Cummings, 25, plan to hold monthly charity events in an effort to create more community awareness about volunteering and the need for volunteers in Las Vegas.

"There are so many charities in this city," Cummings said. "Most need volunteers almost as badly as they do money. We are trying to promote the giving of oneself, an overall love for humanity."

Rejavanate offers free wireless Internet, comfy conversation nooks, coffee and a relaxed, artistically charged atmosphere. The shop features work from local authors, painters and musicians, as well as themed open-mic nights.

"We are having everything from poetry readings to acoustic performances," Cummings said. "We're even thinking about instituting a karaoke night. We're willing to try anything to keep this place what it has been for so long -- somewhere where anyone can come and share ideas, laugh and have a good time."