Ember & Oak, high-end steakhouse in downtown Melbourne, to have self-serve wine bar

Rick Neale
Florida Today

MELBOURNE — The co-founder of the original Trend Kitchen is converting the shuttered La Vela in downtown Melbourne into Ember & Oak, a fine-dining steakhouse featuring a self-serve wine bar with 64 varieties on tap.

"Three, four years ago, if you would have told me to do something downtown, I would have said, 'Absolutely not.' I think the demographic in the downtown is shifting," Kevin Anderson said, standing inside La Vela near the wood-fired oven. 

"A lot of people are coming from out of town — the apartment complex right across the street, the hotel behind Meg's," Anderson said, gesturing outside the front window at the tower crane rising above the $30 million Highline apartment construction site.

"We got lucky to get in now," he said.

(Left to right) Ember & Oak co-owners Mike Koeppel and Donald Spielman relax at the outdoor wine bar with Andrew Addleman, chef de cuisine, and Kevin Andersen, co-owner and executive chef/owner.

La Vela opened in September 2015 as an Italian eatery boasting more than 6,300 square feet of air-conditioned floor space, a large pavered patio, three bars and two buildings. But business was slow, and the restaurant shut down in July.

Anderson and his business partners, Donald Spielman and Mike Koeppel, closed on the property Friday in a $2 million transaction. They hope to open the wine bar and outdoor patio by April with a limited menu, then launch the full indoor venue this summer.

"Ember & Oak is a steakhouse. It's a modern, wood-fired steakhouse. We'll be dry-aging our own meat. I have a very extensive cheese and charcuterie program. It's going to be the premier steakhouse in Brevard County," Anderson said.

"Outside is the wine bar. We'll be doing wood-fired pizzas, charcuterie-cheese and small apps. We'll have 64 bottles of wine on tap. Have you been to the Wine Room in Winter Park? You buy a card. You can reload the card with however much you want and self-serve," he said.

"For $25, they can taste 15 different wines — two ounces at a time — and then find four or five wines that they love. Sit down, enjoy a glass on a comfy sectional in front of a table in front of a fire pit," he said.

Ember & Oak may host weekend jazz bands and monthly pig roasts on the patio, Anderson said.

"It's not clubby. This is a working professional, kind of sophisticated late-night and dining experience," he said.

The outdoor patio-courtyard at Ember & Oak.

Anderson and his sister, Lauren, launched Trend Kitchen in August 2014 on State Road A1A in Indian Harbour Beach. The siblings sold the restaurant in October 2015 and have not been affiliated with it since. 

Anderson will serve as executive chef of Ember & Oak, and Andrew Addleman will run the kitchen as chef de cuisine. The duo met about a dozen years ago at the former Andiamo Café Italiano in Indialantic.

More:La Vela, Bar Refuge restaurants go up for sale in downtown Melbourne

More:Q&A: Couple trades French Riviera for Indian Harbour Beach in taking over Trend Kitchen

Addleman previously worked at Winter Park Racquet Club and The Eveleigh on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. He worked the past 3.5 years as sous chef at Leroy's Kitchen + Lounge in San Diego.

"Really elevated steaks," Addleman said of Ember & Oak's upcoming menu. "A wood-fired grill. Just done extremely well, without fussing with the meat too much."

"The only thing that will never leave the menu is probably our beef Wellington for two. It's going to probably be the signature dish. It's one of my favorite things in the world, and it's made a comeback," Anderson added.

Anderson is managing partner of Trust Financial and Property Group, and Spielman is chief technology officer. The firm will establish offices on the second story above the wine bar, where they will add a conference room and host seminars, events and VIP dinners. Koeppel, who works for Viera Builders, will be project manager.

The Ember & Oak kitchen will move up near the front windows, by the wood-fired oven. La Vela's former kitchen will be converted into a prep and banquet kitchen, Addleman said.

Ember & Oak will likely seat 60 to 80 patrons inside for fine dining and 100 to 150 patrons outdoors — "outside it'll be more fun," Anderson said.

Neale is the South Brevard watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638

or rneale@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @RickNeale1

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(Left to right) Ember & Oak co-owners Mike Koeppel and Donald Spielman chat near their wood-fired oven with Kevin Andersen, co-owner and executive chef, and Andrew Addleman, chef de cuisine.