Just three months after opening the doors to Selah Cafe Coffee and Market, Esperanza residents Stephen and D’Ann Gimenez already feel like they have found home. The welcoming atmosphere, familiar faces, and steady stream of neighbors gathering over coffee have confirmed what the family felt the moment they arrived in Boerne: this community was exactly where they were meant to be.
Nestled along North Main Street, Selah is more than a coffee shop. It is a reflection of the Gimenez family’s story, one built on faith, perseverance, service, entrepreneurship, and deep love for family. Inside the cozy café, customers quickly become friends. Conversations linger over handcrafted drinks, neighbors gather around tables like old friends, and the space feels less like a business and more like a living room for the community.
For Stephen and D’Ann, creating a family-centered gathering place was never just about coffee. It was about connection.
“Our goal is for people to come here and feel like they’re home,” Stephen shared during the interview.
The café was inspired largely by their daughter, Aubrey, who first felt called to open a coffee shop before the family had even officially moved into their Esperanza home. One evening, Aubrey drove past the little house on North Main Street and immediately knew it was the perfect location. Though the timing felt risky after a major move from California to Texas, the family stepped forward in faith and signed the contract the very next day.
Now, Selah Cafe Coffee and Market has quickly become a local favorite. The family says nearly everyone who walks through the doors has embraced them with overwhelming kindness and support. Repeat customers fill the café daily, creating the small-town atmosphere the Gimenez family had longed for after years spent living in larger cities.
That sense of community means even more when you understand the road that brought them here.
As July approaches and communities across the country pause to honor America’s military families, Stephen and D’Ann’s story of service stands as a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by countless families behind the scenes.
Stephen joined the United States Navy in 1993 as a young husband and father determined to provide for his family. As a first-generation American raised near Houston, he felt a deep sense of patriotism and responsibility. But military life quickly proved more difficult than either he or D’Ann could have imagined.
Shortly after enlisting, Stephen was deployed overseas aboard the USS Carl Vinson. The deployment separated him from D’Ann and their young son, Ryland, for long stretches of time during an era before cell phones, video chats, and instant communication. Letters traveled slowly across the ocean while D’Ann worked tirelessly back home to care for their growing family.
The couple openly shared that those early years tested them emotionally, financially, and spiritually. They lived with very little, often relying on donated furniture, stretching every dollar, and simply doing whatever was necessary to survive. Yet through the hardship, they discovered resilience and a partnership that would define the rest of their lives.
“It was hard,” D’Ann said honestly. “But it was worth it. It made us who we are today.”
One of the moments that forever impacted Stephen was the assistance his family received through Navy Relief. During one particularly difficult season, the organization helped cover the family’s financial shortfall and provided groceries, diapers, and essentials when they needed it most. Stephen still becomes emotional recalling the experience and credits that kindness with shaping his desire to one day give back to military families in similar ways.
Today, that servant-hearted mindset still drives everything the Gimenez family does.
Stephen and D’Ann have built multiple businesses over the years, including healthcare ventures, restoration companies, environmental testing services, and now Selah Cafe Coffee and Market. Their entrepreneurial spirit has become a true family affair, with several of their other children involved in business alongside them.
Their children remain the center of their world.
Ryland, their oldest son, co-owns an environmental testing company with the family and shares Stephen’s entrepreneurial drive. As co-owners, daughter and son-in-law Aubrey and Travis Tamayo have played a major role in helping bring Selah Cafe Coffee and Market to life. Their daughter Emmy works as an IT professional for a California school district, while Annie followed her passion all the way to Spain, where she is pursuing her master’s degree in dance after becoming a professional ballerina, through years of determination and hard work. Their youngest son, Landon, pursued acting after landing a starring role in the ABC television series Resurrection, which ultimately led the family to relocate to Atlanta years ago.
The family has also walked through unimaginable loss together. Their daughter Lilliana passed away late in pregnancy years ago, and later the family endured the heartbreaking loss of Aubrey’s infant son, Azaiah. Through grief, they leaned on one another and on their faith, becoming even closer in the process.
After decades of challenges, moves, business ventures, deployments, and rebuilding, the Gimenez family says Boerne feels different. It feels peaceful. Intentional. Meant to be.
Now settled in Glorieta pod in Esperanza, Stephen and D’Ann spend their free time playing pickleball, enjoying the lazy river, exercising, surfing when they can, and gathering around the table with family for games and meals. Their three rescue dogs, Leia, Link, and Maddie, have made the move right alongside them.
Most importantly, they are building something they hope will last far beyond coffee.
At Selah Cafe Coffee and Market, the Gimenez family hopes to create a place where families gather, friendships grow, and community thrives. It is a dream rooted in faith, strengthened by service, and inspired by a lifetime of learning how powerful love and perseverance can truly be.
