On the first weekend the shop was open for business, scores of picketers gathered outside to denounce what they derisively called “White Wave gentrifiers.” The vandalism came soon after, when someone threw a rock through the logo emblazoned on the glass door. The shop has been the target of countless more protests and repeated vandalism apparently trying to force it out of the neighborhood, which has been a flash point in the debate over gentrification for years.

Last year, after continued protests over art galleries in the neighborhood and graffiti that attacked “white art,” one gallery shut its doors for good and moved out.

Mr. Defa insists they are not going anywhere.

“We have a five-year lease and people are coming through our doors all the time,” he said as he prepared an espresso one recent morning. “There’s lots of people who are stoked to have us. I’m not going to abandon because of a few outspoken people. Most of the neighborhood is welcoming us in ways we never expected.”

Just that morning, Mr. Defa said, another local business owner painted over graffiti with a message that said “get out.”