The cafe is located where Memory Lane used to sit next to Home Hardware. Few would recognize the space now though. Everything has been overhauled to give the cafe that warm inviting feel.
Linda Smith, formerly Giffin, and her husband Ivan grew up in Liverpool and remember the downtown as a very busy place. However like many young people they left to find work.
"We left like so many people have to do, not necessarily because we wanted to," she says.
They spent 13 years in Ottawa before they decided to come home and join the family business. Ivan also decided to expand the business, Liverpool Electric and Plumbing Plus, to include carpentry and window installation as well.
Coming back to Liverpool though they saw something lacking in the downtown.
"This was the kind of place we felt wasn't here. Something for families," she says.
Smith says it was her father-in-law Bryan Richardson who initially sparked the idea of a cafe. He thought a place to go out for breakfast was needed in Liverpool. He was also the first to see the potential of the former Memory Lane location, despite reservations from the rest of the family. Smith says now though they are glad he lobbied for the space, now that the transformation is almost complete.
The new business is very much a family affair as well. They did all the renovations to the space, pulled in expertise from Ivan's mother Shirley Richardson-Smith, who is a chef with 30 years experience, and plan on having family behind the counter and in the kitchen.
As for the decor, Smith says she is continuing with the theme of memories. Black and White photos will dot the walls, as well as other memorabilia from the past. They also hope to make new memories, reflected in the slogan "Meals and memories are made here," which sits above the door to the kitchen.
Smith was aware of all the rumours about what was going to be opened in the spot once renovations began, and says it was funny to hear them all. Everything from a window shop, which came from their advertisements on the building for the family business, to even a Dixie Lee was rumoured at one point.
The cafe will be open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and serves a full breakfast and lunch. Also on the menu is a variety of coffee and tea, sweets, paninis and Italian Sodas. Smith says she wanted to do something different, which is where the paninis and soda idea came from. Although maybe not well known, she hopes people will enjoy them.
Being open until 4 p.m. has a purpose as well.
"The reason we extended our hours to 4 p.m. was to accommodate the teens in our area," says Smith.
She says she expects comparisons from the Woodpile at first, but that's fine. She hopes however the cafe will grow into its own as they get established.
the food is really good