PHOTOGRAPHY ( PAGE 58 ): FAMILY PHOTO @ ASHLEY _ IACONETTI ON INSTAGRAM ; ASHLEY PHOTO BY SYDNEY GORDON ; FLOWERS : GETTY IMAGES . ( THIS PAGE ): JAMIE COELHO . ( OPPOSITE PAGE , CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT ): ALEX GAGNE ; SYDNEY GORDON ( LAST TWO PHOTOGRAPHS ).
They finally open the door and settle into the corner window set up with a sofa and coffee table . “ Once we got the nerve to walk inside , we were really giddy when he talked to us ,’’ says one of the women , Giana Blaise of Westerly . “ What did he even ask us ? I blacked out .”
Soon they are sipping mudslides and sugar cookie-flavored cocktails and feeling more relaxed . Once they get halfway through their first round of drinks , they ’ re already discussing what they ’ ll order next at the counter . While today they are set on seasonal cocktails , some of the nonalcoholic coffee drinks have fun names like “ Here for the Wrong Reasons ” ( Nutella Amaretto latte ), “ The Most Dramatic Mocha Ever !” ( iced almond coconut mocha ) and “ A Trip to Paradise ” ( banana hazelnut iced coffee with toasted coconut ).
Meanwhile , a handsome young man with shoulder-skimming wavy brown hair , two weeks worth of scruff and wearing a black backwards ball cap and gray hoodie approaches the table with a $ 30 charcuterie board decked out with everything from cheese and rose-shaped salami to chocolate cookies , pickles and candied nuts . As he swoops in to deliver the platter to their table , the women scramble to grab their phones in time . They ’ re on the edge of their seats on the sofa , and excitement builds as one of them successfully films the moment as if a touchdown pass is about to take place .
“ Jared is delivering our food ,” narrates Blaise with disbelief as the video records and Jared Haibon awkwardly smiles while placing the board on their table . “ Is that a photo or a video ?” he says with a good-natured laugh . The video is instantly posted on Instagram .
The coffee shop and cocktail bar is owned by former “ Bachelorette ” cast member Jared Haibon and his wife , former “ Bachelor ” contestant Ashley Iaconetti , who met in the summer of 2015 in Mexico as castmates and love interests on the popular Season 2 of the spinoff show “ Bachelor in Paradise .” Their romantic relationship started on the series but fizzled out by Season 3 , and evolved into them becoming best friends . Then , in May of 2018 , they surprised everyone and announced they were an official couple in a video titled “ Story of Us ” and were engaged by the next month . They married in Newport at Rosecliff in August of 2019 , settled down
in Rhode Island and recently moved into a new home in West Greenwich with their two-monthold baby , Dawson Dimitri Brady Haibon .
While the table of women suspected they might see Haibon and Iaconetti circulating at the shop , they never dreamed “ Jared himself ” would be serving their table . But with a hospitality industry labor shortage , and a hands-on approach as an owner , Haibon can be seen handling everything from bartending and cooking to doing the dishes and stepping in as a server at Audrey ’ s .
“ He hand-delivered it . It ’ s cool he ’ s actually working . He even takes out his own trash ,” Blaise says . “ He ’ s a celebrity to us , but he ’ s also a real person . We ’ ll quit our jobs and work here if he wants us .”
“ I think it ’ s really cool that they landed in Rhode Island because everyone from the show tends to go to L . A . after ,” adds her friend , Megan Hollander , who traveled here from Connecticut .
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BEFORE OPENING AUDREY ’ S , the couple already had a strong connection to Rhode Island . Haibon grew up in Warwick , and graduated from Rhode Island College with a degree in history , and he also earned an associate degree at the Community College of Rhode Island . He worked as a general manager at both Providence Oyster Bar and Federal Taphouse before and after his time spent filming for “ The Bachelorette ” and “ Bachelor in Paradise .”
Haibon always wanted to own a restaurant , he explains in an interview with his wife in November , before the shop even opened to the public . “ I loved the concept of a coffeehouse that turns into a lounge at night ,” he says . “ I always said if I was going to open a place it would have a concept like
60 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l APRIL 2022