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October 29, 2025 11 mins

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Ever wonder how a deli inside a brewery becomes a heartbeat for a whole town? We sit down with Courtney of Salvador Deli to discuss the rise of Vero Beach’s airport district—Sova—and the creative spirit that runs through it all. From late-night “did I turn the oven off?” panic to the joy of a packed-lunch rush, this is a candid look at craft, community, and momentum.

Courtney shares how being born here shaped her view of Vero as one of the last great American towns—where you recognize faces at the grocery store and still discover new corners every month. Inside Walking Tree Brewery, Salvador Deli surprises first-time visitors with a soaring space, a steady lunch-to-dinner cadence, and a growing catering arm that thrives on rehearsal dinners and nonprofit events. We unpack the power of collaboration through local partners, a wine-paired walk at McKee Botanical Garden, and hands-on science with ORCA’s pollution-mapping, which brings lagoon health to the table.

Art isn’t a backdrop here; it’s the point. The walls feature pieces from local creators, a striking young Dalí portrait, a bold kitchen mural, and even cat portraits that add wit and warmth. As Halloween nears, Cowboys and Aliens sets a playful theme, and the neighborhood energy keeps building. If you haven’t stopped by yet, come with an open mind; you’ll find inventive sandwiches, a welcoming crew, and neighbors ready to point you to your next favorite spot in Sova.

If you enjoy stories that blend food, art, and the kind of community that shows up when it counts, hit play and join us. Subscribe, share with a Vero friend, and leave a quick review so more neighbors can find their local podcast.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian (00:00):
All right, well, welcome back to the Vero Beach podcast.
This is part three here of ourinterview with Courtney from
Salvador, Delhi.
We're excited to learn moreabout what you love about Vero
Beach.
Before we get started, nobodywas listening, but we were
sitting here talking and youwere telling and just revealing
all these bad dreams andnightmares that you have about
the restaurant.
And I thought maybe that wasonly us that have like, you

(00:21):
know, like when you're workingsomewhere and you have these
dreams, like, oh no, I forgot towhat you said.
What what are some of those foryou?

Courtney (00:28):
That there's got to be some psychology behind it, you
know.
But yeah, yeah, I I think fromwaiting tables for so long, it's
like, she asked me for a water,and and she probably did, but
it was two months ago, and youknow, so now I've remember that.
Sorry to that lady if I eversit over there like dehydrated.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, she's still there.
But yeah, no, it's you know,the job, and I'm sure yours as
well is it's just so highstress, you know, everything is

(00:49):
fast moving too, so it's yeah,it's easy to take it home with
you, I guess.

Brian (00:53):
But have you ever like left and it's like, did I turn
the oven off?
Do I gotta go back to the room?

Courtney (00:56):
And that one is yeah, that's happened here once
before.
It wasn't me, fortunately, butyeah, we that's you know the the
ultimate, yeah, I thinknightmare.

Brian (01:05):
But all right.
So, Courtney, tell us what doyou love most about Vero Beach?
Because you said you'reoriginally from Vero Beach.
So and and you've moved in NewYork, you've lived in Australia.
What do you love most aboutVero?

Courtney (01:16):
Yeah, I mean, like I said, being born here, I've
watched it truly evolve and fromthe early 90s to now and how
fast it's growing too.
And I mean, even being part ofthis little airport district,
this is new.
Yeah, this is very cool.
Yeah, yeah.
So I mean, I I just think thetown itself is so special.
It really feels like one of thelast like great American towns,
you know, if you will.
And and it's just beautiful andthe people are so great.

(01:38):
It's you know, ups and downswhere it's you know, if I go to
publics, I know everyone.
So it was there's that side,but then there's also this side
of I know everyone, you know, sothere's a real sense of
community, which is awesome too.

Brian (01:50):
Tell us a little bit about the airport district,
because I've been noticing thatterm being put out more often,
like about the airport district.
I think they got you guys justhad something, some kind of
celebration or something over atIndian Rover, I think about
that.

Courtney (02:03):
So yeah, yeah.
So that you know, we're kind offiguring out the branding too.
Brooke Malone from Walking Treewas calling it Sova, so South
of Vero Airport.
I don't know if it's stuck yet,but spread the word.

Shawna (02:13):
I like that, yeah.

Courtney (02:13):
Um yeah, so you know, kind of like our Soho.
This is our Sova.
But cute.

Shawna (02:18):
So you would say, like, hey, let's head over to Sova.
Is that how you choose it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Courtney (02:22):
Yeah, maybe work it out.
But yeah, yeah.
So I mean, but this whole area,especially, you know, we're
open for lunch now.
So I don't think a lot ofpeople are aware that we're even
here, first of all, you know.
So then also being inside of abrewery, we're trying to really
bring some attention, like, hey,there's great sandwiches, you
know, in this giant warehouse.
And and we've got some greatneighbors too.
Three bite tacos, you know, thedistillery, like you mentioned,

(02:42):
and cigar bar.
Yeah, so it's it's growing, youknow.

Brian (02:45):
It's that's very cool.

Courtney (02:47):
And we're a big fan of three bite tacos as well.

Shawna (02:49):
Yeah, yeah.

Brian (02:50):
Yeah, their food's really good there too.
I forgot to ask you thisearlier.
You're talking about now,you're open for lunch too.
Do you have any downtimebetween lunch and dinner?
Like, how does that work?
Because I mean, I'm I'm justcurious.
Like, do you are you're likesitting around going, all right,
now what do we do for the nexttwo hours?
Or you're just you've got aplenty of stuff to do.

Courtney (03:07):
Yeah, there's never not something to do, you know.
I and I it's funny, I waslooking at like a sushi
restaurant where they close atthree, and I was a little bit
envious because there really isno no downtime.
I mean, if I get here at nineand I on an optimistic day leave
at five or six, you know,there's maybe an hour in between
where it's reset, geteverybody, the dinner crew kind
of like ready for that, youknow, next part of the night.

(03:27):
But yeah, no, you're justconstantly prepping and cleaning
and organizing and but it'sit's nice because I mean the way
I see it is I'm here and I'llI'm cooking.
So you're gonna do what youlove to do.
You know, yeah, exactly.
That's cool.

Shawna (03:39):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And when you're busier, timegoes by a lot faster if you're
sitting around like time drags.

Courtney (03:44):
I I cannot believe.
I mean, this past year I'm likeit's we're almost halfway
through October, and it'sbecause my whole day is just
full.

Shawna (03:50):
So when you're not cooking or managing the
business, where do you like togo hang out or relax?
Um, my couch.

Courtney (03:56):
No, I'm totally kidding.
I mean, but slightly kidding,but yeah, no, we get it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, I'm you know on my feetconstantly, so it's nice to
relax.
But I, you know, I love localbusinesses too.
And so obviously being next tothe distillery is great.
So, you know, we'll have a aday shift and go over there.
Their gimlet is the best thingin the world if you haven't
tried it yet.
Really?
It's real, yeah, it's my newfavorite.

(04:17):
Um, but yeah, I mean, I try tomake a point of visiting as many
restaurants in Vero and tryingall the new ones as as possible.
You know, it's honestly like ayou know hobby of mine.
So yeah, us too.
Look, you can make a businessout of it.

Shawna (04:30):
Yeah, exactly.
So Vero has such a strong senseof community and local support.
How have you seen that show upsince you started this
restaurant?

Courtney (04:38):
Yeah, I mean, I've obviously I've known the
community for a while just viakilted and other things that
we've done.
But yeah, I I think you'll see,you know, last year we had
those tornadoes, and you reallyin moments like that see the
community, I mean, absolutelyrally.
And it's not for someself-serving motivation, you
know, it's truly like we loveeach other.
And yeah, yeah.
I'm I've I've been moreimpressed, obviously, living in

(05:00):
New York City.
You you do get some communityinvolvement from different
boroughs and whatever, but fromseeing it from the perspective
of this whole town is reallycool.
Yeah.

Brian (05:08):
Yeah, it's definitely a very unique about the community.
Uh again, like business ownerscoming together and wanting to
work together and help eachother out and share ideas and
critiques and stuff like that.
It's very, it's very unique.
And right now, so I mean, thattakes me back to we were looking
at at the beginning in episodeone, where all this artwork
that's on your wall.
You have a lot of differentpieces on your wall here.

(05:29):
So maybe tell me, tell us alittle bit about the art on the
wall.
Is this a collaboration?
What's the story behind it?
Sure.

Courtney (05:35):
Yeah, we um, you know, with the name, obviously we're
art lovers, which is how we gotto this this name.
But uh, so we didn't want thisto be a Dali museum.
You know, we wanted it to belocal art.
So we love the name.
We love Dali.
So yeah, you'll see sort oflike in the middle here, Brooke
Malone, the owner of WalkingTree, did these.
Oh Saskia Fuller, Luke, who Imentioned earlier, his mom did

(05:56):
that like young Dali painting.
Wow, which is stunning.
If you're in the restaurant andyou get a chance to look at it,
the detail is stunningincredible.

Shawna (06:03):
Yeah, how did she do the eyes like that?

Courtney (06:05):
It looks like a photograph, doesn't it?
Yeah.
The um the mural, which I justam obsessed with, you know, love
it behind the in the kitchen.

Brian (06:13):
That's so cool.

Courtney (06:14):
Yeah, Teela June, she's amazing too.
And then Linda did these two onthe south facing wall, and
those are my cats.
So yeah, I don't know ifanybody knows that when they
come out.

Shawna (06:23):
Give the uh give the cats a shout-out.
What are they?
Yeah, exactly.

Courtney (06:26):
Tanya and Bean.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then we've had Linda madethese sort of planters and we've
had people donate plants, andit's really, in my opinion, just
a big local art collective, youknow.

Brian (06:38):
That is cool stuff.
Do you guys ever do like an artevent like display out there?
Like when you guys are likedoing food and having drinks and
stuff, like yeah, you mean therestaurant or yeah, like the
restaurant.

Courtney (06:47):
Yeah.
I mean, we've done you weretalking about collaborations
with local businesses.
We did uh one for Safe Familiesfor Children with the cigar bar
and pepper and salt.
And but yeah, so that was, youknow, we were all out here and
that kind of felt similar whereit was like a you know, a big
showcase of everybody's stuff.
Um, we did an event at McKeeBotanical Garden.
That was great.
Oh wow.
So we had five differentstations set up throughout the

(07:07):
garden and people could, youknow, pair that with wine and
it's fun.
That was great.
But the biggest thing is uhworking with Orca, so the local
research group.
Yeah.
So we've we've donefundraisers.
So we sponsored what's called apollution mapping station.
So we would actually go out anddo some field research.
So we would collect samples andbring it back to their lab.
And you know, they they'reincredible, they're all about

(07:28):
community focus and trying toget people understanding the
lagoon and you know how tothere's so many interesting
things here.

Brian (07:35):
I know.

Courtney (07:36):
And that that's Vero for you.
You know, you you meet oneperson, they connect you to, you
know, so it's yeah.

Brian (07:40):
What we love most about doing this is we always get to
learn so much more about thecommunity and what's going on.
And we're like, man, this issuch a cool place that we get to
call home.
It's awesome.
Yeah, it is.

Shawna (07:50):
Okay, so if someone's listening and they haven't come
to visit you here yet, whatwould you say to invite them?

Courtney (07:56):
Come with an open mind.
And you know, if you're notopen-minded, we'll find
something for you, of course.
But but yeah, no, it's reallyit's a fun experience.
And being inside of thisfacility too, inside of Walking
Tree, is just so cool.
Like we have so many peoplethat come here for the first
time, they're like, what do youmean it goes all the way back
that way?
You know, so it's it is just areally special space.
And yeah, we're we want to meetyou.

Brian (08:16):
What are your guys' hours?
Because you're saying thatyou're doing lunch and dinner
now, and what days of the weekare you open?

Courtney (08:21):
Yeah, so close Monday because I need a nap.
Yeah.
Um, but we're open for lunchTuesday through Friday at 11.
Okay.
Um, until close, we close atnine weekdays, 10 weekends,
seven Sundays, and then we'reopen at noon Saturday, Sunday.
Okay, nice.

Brian (08:38):
Why don't you go ahead and share your website so
everybody knows how to find out,yeah, find out about you.
And then also if you're whatsocial media is that are you on?
Are you on Instagram?

Courtney (08:46):
Instagrams at Salvador Deli Vero Beach, all one
lowercase.
Uh websites salvadorely vb.com,Facebook, DoorDash, all those
things.
And then you can, you know,email me if you ever have
inquiries about K branding orquestions.
Awesome.
Yeah.

Brian (09:01):
And if anybody's like, what was that address?
If you don't remember, just goto myverobeach.com.
You can search, just type inthe Salvador, and you're gonna
find it right there.
It pops right up there, and youget a link to your website.
Yeah, yeah.
And they can contact you stuffthere as well.
So all right, so as we getready to wrap up this episode,
this has been a great interview.
You've done awesome, Courtney.
Thank you.

Courtney (09:18):
Yeah, this is lots of fun.

Brian (09:20):
Now, is the is that on Halloween?
Is that the big event?
Is it on Halloween?

Courtney (09:23):
So they I think in the past it's always been on
Saturdays that they've done it,but Halloween falls on a Friday.
Okay, so this year the big uhparty will be on Friday night,
and then there's a second umSaturday like big band.
Okay, and the theme is Cowboysand Aliens, which I love.
Yeah, I'm like that.
I want to be both, you know?
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
I'm like trying to figure outhow to do that in a kitchen

(09:44):
without a cowboy hat on, butyeah, yeah, yeah.

Brian (09:47):
As we get ready to wrap up, what what would you say?
What's your hope for thefuture?

Courtney (09:51):
Yeah, I mean, expansion obviously is always a
goal.
Uh really building ourcatering, I think is something
we've learned that we'veabsolutely love doing.
So, you know, I've I've alwaysbeen sort of really into event
planning as well.
And so I'm I'm enjoying doingthese kind of like rehearsal
dinners and seeing everybodyhappy.
And yeah, so that's lots of funtoo.
But yeah, just you know,keeping it going.

Brian (10:11):
Well, uh, we've really enjoyed having you on the
podcast.
And if you guys have enjoyedthe podcast, make sure you click
subscribe and be sure to leaveus a review.
That helps all your otherfriends here locally in Vero
find your local podcast.
With that, Sana.

Shawna (10:25):
Thanks for listening, neighbor.
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