FLINT, MI — Nearly two years to the day the business closed, Ken Van Wagoner is back serving coffee at The Good Beans Cafe with a smile in Flint’s Carriage Town neighborhood.
“We’re open,” said owner Van Wagoner, excited for his first day back. “It’s kinda Willy Wonka, being closed for two years and opening back up, having to get all the Oompa Loompas ready. “It feels sort of like coming out of retirement.
“It feels good to be back.”
The neighborhood coffee shop closed on March 13, 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic first began and officially reopened to three days a week starting Monday, March 14.
Related: Carriage Town’s The Good Beans Cafe to reopen after two-year pandemic closure
Van Wagoner, who opened the cafe located on the corner of Grand Traverse Street and First Avenue, originally aimed to reopen in September 2021, but as the number of COVID-19 cases were on the rise, he wanted to wait until now to keep his customers safe.
As the cafe reopens, business hours will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a slightly altered menu including some new items and others removed.
One of those new items, Van Wagoners said, is the cannoli.
And the coffee itself, that doesn’t change, he said. Van Wagoner has proudly served Lavazza coffee — Italy’s No. 1 coffee — since they opened their doors in 2000.
This is to expand on the efforts he has cemented as a taste in traditional espresso-based beverages and flavors, he said, while drawing a shot from the Cimbali two-group espresso machine imported from Italy more than two decades years ago.
“We wanted to create a traditional European flare, and it feels good to continue to offer it,” Van Wagoner said.
Van Wagoner said he wants to “double down” on the cafe’s identity of educating the community on espresso-based beverages as the coffee shop reopens.
“We are really going to try to focus on those kinds of beverages,” he said.
Van Wagoner is thankful for his regular customers and patrons, as he has is grateful to serve some of Flint’s best coffee again.
“(What) I’ve been saying is thank you. Thank you for the patience that everyone has had. People have wanted me open for awhile. And I respect that, and they’ve respected that I’ve waited this long,” he said. “I really can’t thank them for that patience enough. I know everyone has been chomping at the bit to get in here, and I’m happy to have them once again.”
Read more on MLive.com:
A snack utility belt, laundry-doing robot and 15 other inventions from Michigan 3rd-8th graders
Flint Journal photojournalist Jake May earns national award for community coverage
Family, friends celebrate life of former Flint Mayor Woodrow Stanley
Davison kindergarteners spread message of love on Valentine’s Day
"cafe" - Google News
March 15, 2022 at 12:51AM
https://ift.tt/MicxYD0
‘We’re open’: The Good Beans Cafe returns with traditional espresso-based drinks, cannolis in Flint - MLive.com
"cafe" - Google News
https://ift.tt/wFkHJaK
https://ift.tt/wGU9Tnr
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25244079/4.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment