I have two dreams in life: 1. To open and run a little cafe. 2. To start a farm. Today, let's explore dream number one, an idea a college friend and I have been scheming for years.
The cafe might be called something like Olalie, open for breakfast and lunch daily from 6am to 3pm. My friend, a lovely girl, would run the front of the house, wooing customers with her big smile and California charm. I would be the devil in the back of the house, running a tight ship, raising hell when my little culinary student interns burn the croissants and overcook the oatmeal. And if all goes as planned, around 10 am everyday, when the grunt work is completed, my friend and I would turn the reins over to our obedient staff while we dipped biscotti in our cappuccinos and read the newspaper on our sunlit patio.
At Olalie, we would serve coffee and tea, homemade muffins and scones, wood-burning-oven-baked breads and pizzas, salads and soups, house-made granola and steel cut oatmeal. Maybe even delicious creations such as the sandwich pictured above. All of our ingredients would, of course, come from local farmers or Fair Trade vendors and would change with the seasons, peaches in the summer, persimmons in the fall. I have yet to create our signature, Olalie coffee cake, but I suppose I still have a time.
I know, I know. Let me dream.
The projected grand opening of Olalie Cafe and Bakery is September 2020. I've heard, however, one can never be too prepared. And so, I've started to draft our marketing material:
This folder, created in 2003, holds all of the recipes we will use at Olalie's.
With any luck, our cafe will draw a loyal following, much like San Francisco's Tartine:
And, after years of honing our skills as restaurateurs, we will turn that folder of recipes into a fantastic cookbook. I am so excited about my latest purchase: The Tartine Cookbook:
