Turning back the clock: Old-fashioned country theme part of new café planned for Gravenhurst

We asked them a series of questions about their business venture.

How did you come up with the idea for the café?

“We have a cottage in Muskoka, and we bought the little farmhouse (café property) with no clear plans what to do with it in 2021. Then we thought about putting in a food truck, which eventually became the Burger Boys (food truck). Then we thought about what would complement the food truck and we realized that a coffee shop with desserts would be a great fit. We wanted to attract people to the downtown core, rather than just the waterfront.”

You have an old-style country theme planned for your café. How did that come about?

“We learned that the Town of Gravenhurst wants to encourage an old-world cottage style with colours and signage, which we love. We wanted to be part of that program, so we created our coffee shop along the same lines. We want people to feel like they are stepping back in time, in our coffee shop, to when the world was slower and more charming. We have no experience running a coffee shop, but after COVID we were looking to expand our social life and we both love a great cup of coffee and cheesecake, so we figured why not?”

Tell our readers a bit more about the café’s theme.

“We are always on the lookout for antiques or vintage decor for the café. The main counter is the original farmhouse kitchen cabinet refinished. The café sign is antique from U.S.A. The cash register is from a small-town grocery store from Massachusetts in 1904. We used old barn board from weathered exteriors and some old dock boards. Antique coffee grinder and vintage candy scale, glass jars for cookies just like they had in old country general stores.”

What do you hope to offer to your customers that will be unique?

“We will carry an exclusive brand of coffee, we have two patios, one in front and one in back, we will have some specialty unique desserts and we want to make it fun with prizes as well as some live music days. We have been approved to sell coffee from one of the top roasters that also supplies to the top three or four hotels in Toronto.

“We rent the front space to the Burger Boys, and we share the two patios with them We aren’t sure on the opening day, because we still have decor to finish and details to figure out. We hope to find someone who loves the idea of a coffee shop and may want to help us run it because we don’t want to work that hard. We would enjoy chatting with people while serving up a great cup of coffee.

What excites you about opening up this new business?

What we enjoy is the learning process in things we have never done before. So learning about making and running a coffee shop is exciting for us. There’s a lot of things involved in creating a great cup of coffee, as we are learning, and it’s an enjoyable process. Even a special water filtration system for the coffee equipment.

Any other plans for the property?

“When we first looked at the property, we didn’t realize there was a barn out back as it was covered under the brush. Once we cleared the bushes and trees, we were amazed to see how beautiful it is. We are still not sure what to do with the barn yet. We are certainly open to ideas, but for now the barn makes a great backdrop for the space. In checking out the history of the property we found out it was once used as an art studio. Arts and crafts for kids is another idea we have for the barn.”

You can find out more about the Sugar & Spice Café & Desserts business by checking out its Instagram page or its Facebook page.