Founder of Quel Fromage brewed more than coffee

On Feb. 21, the renovated Hillcrest sign spanning University Avenue by the corner of Fifth Avenue was mounted and ceremoniously relit after a brief hiatus.

That surely would have made Gene Coster happy. In 1984, the founder and owner of the former Quel Fromage coffee house had contributed $4,000 to help replace the original 1941 sign with an updated neon version welcoming people to Hillcrest.

Sadly, Coster, 76, died the day before the sign’s recent resurrection. He was living in a nursing home in Florida after suffering ongoing health issues following a stroke three years earlier.

He was beloved and fondly remembered by many who had been regulars at his cheese and coffee shop.

Quel Fromage opened in 1978 on University Avenue between Fifth and Sixth avenues. It quickly became a gathering spot for writers, poets, artists, fashion designers, professors and people, young and old, who cared about the neighborhood.

Nearly 30 years after it closed, a Quel Fromage friends Facebook page remains: “For all of those who gathered, worked and played together at the granddaddy of San Diego coffee houses, a place to share photos and stories and to reconnect to each other.”

Now, however, postings are accolades to the much beloved late owner.

“The Quel was a place to breathe, think, decompress, mingle and perhaps shape ways forward in company with a merry band of others doing similar things,” wrote John Rippo, longtime publisher of The Espresso coffee house and cafe newsletter. He added that Coster patiently watched over them all.

Rob Hagey, the founder of Street Scene and the La Jolla Jazz Festival, which morphed into the San Diego Jazz Festival, frequented “The Quel,” as did Stanley Fried, who opened the Java Coffeehouse-Gallery, another popular coffee bar in downtown San Diego in the late ’80s. San Diego mayors Maureen O’Connor and Susan Golding stopped by over the years.

Authors wrote there, an artist set up his makeshift studio in one corner and