Brewery, Bakery, Mediterranean Fish House. Plus, Southern Cuisine at Gustafson's

Green Cove Springs: Work on New 'Springside' Restaurant District To Begin

The arch will say “Springside” on it. The brick paved walkways between Walnut and Spring streets will provide outside seating for three restaurants and a tap room. Parking will be in the lot across the street.

Work begins next month on the restoration of the 1909 Gustafson House in Green Cove Springs, part of a project that will create a new food court on Walnut Street that will also include a craft brewery.

As it does in Orlando, Rockpit Brewing and Distilling will be serve beer, spirits and wine at its new Green Cove location. Quaf a pint of Slam Dunkel lager or a tropical moonshine cocktail, then you’ll have a choice for dinner: Southern cuisine at the old Gus House or Mediterranean seafood in a restaurant also next door.

Or you can go straight to dessert at Vivian’s Patisserie, named after the baker’s mother (and not connected with same-name international eateries).

Brian Knight is the owner and founder of Pragmatic Works—that new three-story office building overlooking Governors Creek. Knight made a few bucks selling his other two tech companies, and now he and wife Jennifer are putting a lot of that money into the “Springside” restaurant district.

The place draws it’s inspiration from existing Walnut Street architecture, harkening back to early and middle years of the 20th century.

Jennifer and Brian Knight at the ribbon cutting for the Pragmatic Works opening in Green Cove last year. Founded in 2008, the company provides data-management, big-data, cloud and business-intelligence training services, using both on-demand learning courses and live training events. It employs about 40 people, most of them earning six-figure salaries.

People on social media are quick to complain when old landmarks are about to be torn down—Florida has got to be one of the country’s leading “tear-down” states. Unlived in for 30 years and with a roof that merely strains rainwater, the Gustafson House is not your ordinary fixer-upper. It’s a wreck.

The Knights, having purchased the house and adjoining two acres for a half-million dollars, now expect to pay as much as another million to restore the “Gus House” alone, let alone build the two other Springside structures. Knight said the total cost of the project has not been determined.

The original home of the Gustafson dairy clan is in dire need of work. Brian Knight says it will cost between $750,000 and $1 million to restore.

In case you are wondering whether the brewery is a done deal, Knight says that it definitely is, since he is a 30-percent partner in the Rockpit business. So yes, booze and beer are coming.

The Knights’ philosophy toward Springside and another Green Cove property (which we will get to later) is to exclude national chain restaurants from consideration. Too many, and a city—think Jacksonville—loses it individuality. “I want a soul back in Green Cove,” Brian Knight said. “Here, it’s been asleep. Now, it’s waking up.”

Since he was born and raised in Orange Park, you can’t attribute those sentiments to some haughty carpetbagger type. Knight also said he wanted to erect a statue to Buttercup, the Gustafson’s original cow in Springside’s center circle. Too cheesy, his wife said, no cow.

This sign commemorates the Gustafson family home. Gufstason Dairy Farm went on to become on the biggest in the Southeast during the first half of the 20th century.

Zealous code enforcement spawned a joke that city fathers were trying to transform what had been “Little Detroit” for its car lots into “the Paris of Northeast Florida.” (Ha ha, like that could ever happen.) Now, thanks to tech money, the city’s getting something called a “patisserie.”

Sounds French alright.

Coming soon: Another cool project for Green Cove is on the drawing boards—a city block of restaurants and apartments above. It’s only waiting for commercial interest rates to go down.