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Catalyze 2025: Shawn and Jeanna Damkoehler

Ashley Morales

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We’re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about the upcoming new year and give us catalyzing ideas for making St. Pete a better place to live. What should our city look like? What are their hopes, their plans, their problem-solving ideas? This is Catalyze 2025.

St. Petersburg’s culinary scene continues to evolve, thanks in part to the innovative spirit of restaurateurs Shawn and Jeanna Damkoehler. The couple, owners of Allelo, Pluma and the recently opened Juno & the Peacock, are setting their sights on further growth and development in 2025.

The Damkoehlers’ journey in the local restaurant industry has been marked by a series of successful ventures on St. Pete’s upscale waterfront stretch, Beach Drive. The restaurant Juno & the Peacock, and the cocktail lounge Pluma, opened over the summer. The Damkoehlers said both concepts have remained consistently, and sometimes surprisingly, busy since launching.

“But we can’t just sit back and rest on our laurels,” Shawn added. “We do need to keep evolving and changing, and figure out what people like, what they don’t like, what works. So it’s a nonstop process.”

Juno & the Peacock opened in August 2024 at 400 Beach Dr. NE. Photo: Ashley Morales.

Looking ahead to 2025, the Damkoehlers are focused on refining and redefining their current operations, including changing the menu at Allelo and exploring new possibilities. 

“We try to keep it pretty seasonal [at Allelo],” Jeanna explained. “It’s a little easier there because it’s a smaller, more intimate restaurant, and it’s been received very well. I think people are excited to see a little bit of change here and there, to keep their dining experience fresh.”

The owners also noted that their cocktail lounge Pluma is “still evolving,” and could also see some changes to its craft cocktail and light bites menu in the coming year. 

While the Damkoehlers plan to spend 2025 investing time and energy into their existing restaurants, they’re not ruling out the possibility of new ventures.

“We’ve got ideas,” Shawn hinted. “We have one in particular that we would love to explore. We don’t want to sell ourselves short with what we’ve got on our hands right now, which is extremely large, busy and going well, but you can never take your foot off the gas.

“So whether 2025 is the year for it, I don’t know, but we certainly do have a really beautiful concept in mind that we have no doubt would be successful. But we’re not ready to put it out there quite yet.”

Their plans for 2025 include continuing to contribute to local philanthropic causes through their Damkoehler Family Foundation. Recent recipients include Alpha House, Admiral Farragut Academy, CASA and St. Anthony’s Hospital Foundation.

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