Hunter Jones
On April 25, Stevenson welcomed a new business in downtown. 302 West Cafe, owned by Aimee and John Paul Lambert, hope to bring some life into downtown Stevenson and possibly even inspire more businesses to call Stevenson home in the future.
“Ultimately, it’s not about us growing the business to where we’re just making tons of money or anything like that. We did what we did so hopefully we would create a spark in downtown Stevenson. We just want people to enjoy it, meet new friends and have new neighbors and do what we have. We’re not competing against anyone. We’d love to see more businesses in downtown Stevenson,” John Paul Lambert said.
The cafe will be operating on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. that may be expanded with the full completion of the project.
“We want to have the business and understand that some people might not get to experience as much as they want because of our schedule but the biggest thing is we still have construction going on and will have for the next two months. When the construction is done, that’s when we can look at extending our hours, adding hours and possibly adding days,” Lambert said. “Once we get in, get the swing of things, get good staff hired and complete our construction, we will be adding hours and we will be adding days.”
Near the front of the cafe, there are eight barstools looking out the window, a nod to a pharmacy John Paul and Aimee frequented when they were younger, where they could grab a milkshake and enjoy it on the barstool while waiting for their medicine to be filled.
The cafe has 64 seats and features a menu with specialty coffee, sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas, burgers and handmade desserts that will rotate weekly, with hand-dipped ice cream also coming in the near-future.
“We basically just took food that we cooked at home that we knew how to cook decent and we took it and elevated it to the next level. It’s a lot of the same food that people eat every day but I think we stepped our game up with our different types of bread, the way we assemble the sandwiches, we take a lot of the same ingredients everyone else uses and use them in a different way,” Lambert said.
For the coffee, they will serve many of the coffees that can be found in a Starbucks “with our own spin on it.” Lambert talked in particular about a specialty coffee they offer, a pour-over coffee. Lambert went on a fishing trip last year to Brazil and while there, he found a love for the pour-over style coffee they served.
“When somebody comes up and asks for a pour-over, we will actually hand-grind the beans in front of them. We will put the beans in this special cup that we bought, you fill it full of coffee grounds to the proper grind then put the proper temperature water over and it soaks in a coffee bath, if you will, for about two minutes and then we will sit it on top of the cup and let it drip out old school style. It takes a lot of the bitterness out, it’s just a really good, smooth cup of coffee,” Lambert said. “I’m not saying that it’s life changing but it’s definitely better than a cup of coffee that you can brew at home or buy anywhere but it takes the coffee to the next level. It’s very simple, anybody can do it but nobody in the restaurant business around here does it so it’s sort of unique.”
Though the cafe is now open, the entire business itself is really only half complete.
In the back will sit a Prohibition era speakeasy lounge, where people can gather, have a good drink and a nice conversation. Along with the speakeasy lounge, they will also have a 1200 square foot cigar lounge. The cigar lounge will feature a completely enclosed smoking area with good ventilation.
“It’s not a bar, we’re not trying to come across as a bar. It’s going to be a true speakeasy Prohibition style lounge to where it’s really a lounge where you can get a couple good drinks, get some good bar bites, sit down, have a conversation and you can also walk back and forth from the speakeasy to the cigar lounge with a drink,” Lambert said.
The speakeasy itself looks to provide a different mood than most other establishments with alcohol, offering low lighting, soft music and encouraging patrons to spend time speaking with friends.
“It’s going to be encouraged that people come in, have a good time and drink but also engage in conversations just like they used to. This is a time to get away from work, get away from everyday life to come in, sit down, have a good talk with friends and not be glued to your cellphone,” Lambert said.
People can follow 302 West on Facebook and 302westcafe on Instagram for future updates regarding the cafe.
