By Carol Fisher Linn
Alpine Bistro will soon offer an Irish coffee or glass of wine. Also: Look forward to a bloody Mary with your croissant at Evl Bake Shop.
Corey and Jennifer Hogan have come a long way from the day they purposefully wandered the streets of Ellicottville looking to determine what kind of business was lacking and how they could fill the niche. They settled on a bake shop, Evl Bake Shop (EBS), decidedly different from Ellicottville’s popular and appealing Cupcaked Bakery. Their focus is on European styled specialty artisan breads, Danish, croissants, sticky buns and morning buns to go, or to sit and enjoy with a cup of Rocket coffee. Going from basically, “our daily bread”, they then launched into breakfasts and lunches at EBS.
Bistro a family-friendly place where there would be something for everyone.
They added a fireplace and lounge area, board games (and frozen hot chocolate)
for kids, comfortable seating, and now a liquor license, to facilitate the
development of a friendly spot where families and the community would be
comfortable visiting and staying a spell
Learning that John Rounds, owner of Adventure Bound on the Fly and Ellicottville Coffee Company was retiring, the Hogans acquired the sprawling 4500 Square foot space at 16 Washington Street, and kept the Ellicottville Coffee Company, which offers an artisanal coffee shop experience with an authentic outdoor store heritage. They then proceeded to create an area that accommodates retail (the freshest bags of Ellicottville Coffee Company beans are available for purchase in store or they ship), hand-crafted espresso drinks, a simple cup of coffee or tea, freshly made baked goods, and foods like salads, sandwiches, soups, etc. While renovating the space, they proceeded toward their goal to make Alpine Bistro a family-friendly place where there would be something for everyone. They added a fireplace and lounge area, board games (and frozen hot chocolate) for kids,
Bound on the Fly and Ellicottville Coffee Company was retiring, the Hogans acquired the sprawling 4500 Square foot space at 16 Washington Street, and kept the Ellicottville Coffee Company, which offers an artisanal coffee shop experience with an authentic outdoor store heritage.
comfortable seating, and now a liquor license, to facilitate the development of a friendly spot where families and the community would be comfortable visiting and staying a spell.
Being propelled by the instinct that “something is missing,” the Hogans, their Marketing director, Bo Sunshine, and their team put their heads together and thought “community center.” They decided to offer a quiet, uninterrupted spot with the invigorating smell of roasted beans and the soothing background sounds of folks coming and going, for perhaps a budding Hemingway, who was known to arrive at café with notebooks, pencils and a pencil sharpener, or J.K. Rowling who stated, “It’s no secret that the best place to write, in my opinion, is in a café.” Bring your laptop, start that novel and make yourself and Alpine Bistro as famous as Rowling’s Elephant House or Hemingway’s Parisian Café or Sloppy Joe’s in Key West. After all, Ellicottville does bring an amazing variety of people to our little one-square mile of earth having become that spot that attracts famous folk. FYI: We have hosted six astronauts including Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom, artists like Eric Clapton (before the string of artists who came for Summer Festival) and famous broadcast journalist Lowell Thomas, who, if he needed a cup of coffee while jotting down his famous literary observations, would have likely done so at the Sugar Bowl or Whitmer’s. Today’s creators now have Alpine Bistro.
The Hogans have added a 12-person table inviting larger groups or a quieter place for community meetings (just call to reserve 716.993.2478) with the bonus (in a few weeks) of lattes, lagers and other liquid libations. As the founders see it this is a place to settle in, to do your own thing, sit quietly with your laptop and be part of the Ellicottville vibe.
The new liquor license, finalizing in a few weeks, gives the Hogans an opportunity to offer a fuller experience with the projected wine bar, coming very soon, and a possible bourbon bar at the lower level in the future. A bonus is another liquor license, which is in the works for their Ellicottville Bake Shop at Suite 5A, 5 East Washington Street, finalizing in about a month. Imagine, champagne and croissants in front of the fire. Who can resist? And, yes, the EBS will continue with their kid related programs as they have in the past.
In conversation with the Hogans and Bo Sunshine (isn’t that a great name?) they are always open to suggestions, comments and feedback. Email them at manager@ellicottvillebakeshop.com. Bon appetit!