We closed our cafe at 181 Fremont in March 2020, expecting a one-month shelter-in-place—you know the rest! The past year and some change has meant a necessary shift in operations at Andytown to figure out how to remain focused on people in the midst of COVID-19 challenges and survival. While it is certainly not the way we hoped to take stock, it did force us to make better use of our resources and build a firmer foundation. Here we are in August 2021, celebrating a long-awaited reopening day with some new teammates and some old, eager to apply what we've learned to our newest cafe & flagship.
Each of our cafes operates a little bit differently, and our General Managers have quite a lot of say in how their spaces operate and what kinds of products they want to feature. I interviewed the folks who orchestrated the whole thing about the process of reopening and what they hope to build in this space: Shawn Baird, General Manager, and Clare Jolley, Assistant Manager!
A little bit about them, to start:
Shawn Baird, General Manager at 181 Fremont (you may recognize them from our Taraval Cafe, where they previously managed!) has been working in the culinary scene for nine years. They see a strong connection between food and coffee, and want to create sensory experiences in any space— whether a fine dining restaurant or a sandwich shop.
Clare Jolley, Assistant Manager of 181 Fremont and member of the original opening team, has been in coffee for six years. She sees coffee as more than just a job, but another outlet for her creativity and a space for community. She loves being people's first smile of the day.
Shawn didn't expect to walk in on the first day they reentered the cafe with Michael and Lauren and tear up at the potential of the space. They dream of opening their own cafe or restaurant someday, and they're grateful to Andytown and the community for believing in them and trusting them to re-open and run this cafe.
They started by pulling everything out of the space, checking all the plumbing connections, cleaning, and servicing the machines to get them running again. It was pretty eye-opening to stock empty shelves and train/re-train a team on machines they either haven't touched before or haven't used in over a year, but they were up to the task.
The coffee bar, sparkling and ready for service.
The team doing a calibration to prepare for opening! From left to right: Clare, Corazon, Jack, & Maxine.
Both Shawn and Clare are used to a fast-paced work environment with customers and orders driving the pace, and it was quite the contrast to be just as busy with behind-the-scenes administrative work: breaking the daunting reopening date down into a timeline & tasks like setting up vendors, figuring out how much of everything to order, streamlining bar and kitchen flow, and running mock services. There have been times when both of them just wanted to rip the off the band-aid and get started—Clare even said she hasn't been able to sleep at times with all the excitement!
When asked what they hope to build in the space, both Shawn and Clare said they want the team to feel supported through the inevitable adrenaline rush of re-opening. Clare is super excited to be back talking to customers and making drinks after a year away, and to now have a new hand in supporting the team and making sure there's fun along the way— she knows that when she's feeling good at work, there's so much potential.
“The windows in the space make you feel like you're floating in the fog. There's nothing like it.“
— Clare
Menu-wise, they're planning to open with espresso drinks, batch brew coffee (Wind & Sea as well as a featured Single Origin!), pastries, bread, & breakfast sandwiches. Beyond the first month, they hope to redefine and simplify the food menu, and add more breads. They also hope to feature more local and POC-owned vendors for the cold case over time. Shawn put it best: "we're part of an industry, and we can work with vendors and farmers who put just as much care into things as we do." Shawn hopes to continue learning where things come from, and choosing carefully who their partners are.
Come visit our 181 Fremont Cafe starting TODAY 8/2 between the hours of 8am-4pm Monday-Friday. We're soo excited to see you! Thanks for tuning in.