GREENFIELD — Specialty coffee and craft sodas are on their way to downtown’s Creative Arts and Event Center.
Maria and Jim Dawson officially assumed ownership of the building, 2 W. Main St., in earlier this year. Within a month, frequenters of downtown can expect a new hometown café — dubbed “The Greenfield Grind” — to open up on the first floor in the back of the building, Jim Dawson said.
The Dawsons own Bradley Hall Events catering service located on the third floor of the building. The duo has been managing the building since January, having taken over for previous owners Bob and Beverly Hunt, Maria Dawson said.
The Dawsons took over the venue for their catering service in April 2016; the Hunts were making plans to retire, and they appreciated the Dawsons’ food and service in the past, Jim Dawson said. They eventually insisted that the Dawsons take over the center as the new owners, finalizing the transaction earlier this year.
“They basically made us an offer we couldn’t refuse just to take over,” Jim Dawson said.
Now that they own the building, starting up a café was a natural next step, they said. A small shop to grab a snack or a cup of coffee around breakfast or lunch is a small town staple; a feature they felt the building and the downtown area really needed, Maria Dawson said.
Running the café will give their kids something to do, too, Jim Dawson added with a grin.
The Dawsons’ sons and daughter work for the catering business full time, but catering hours are typically spent on the weekends. Now they have a chance to work as a team to run the Greenfield Grind so that they can fill more hours during the week, he said.
Owning a little breakfast café is something their daughter-in-law, Emily, has always wanted to do, so all their kids are eager to get everything started.
Emily Dawson said that operating the café will be a welcomed change of pace to her previous job, which she spent sitting behind a desk doing phone sales 40 hours a week. Now she can’t wait to get started working in the Creative Arts and Event Center building, which is a place people always seem to be in a good mood while they’re visiting, she said.
“It will be nice to get involved with something so close to home,” Emily Dawson said. “People there tend to be happy to see you.”
In addition to a menu with drip and specialty coffees, the café will serve breakfast sandwiches, paninis and wraps, along with other healthy breakfast and lunch menu items, Maria Dawson said.
They’ll be serving soda pop, too, but not basic Pepsi and Coke, Jim Dawson said. Locally crafted soda from a brewery in Irvington will be served by the bottle, including colas, ginger beer and lemon lime fizzy drinks, he said.
Their sodas, made with pure cane sugar, should be a welcome change to customers who are used to the high fructose corn syrup that sweetens most drinks, Maria Dawson said.
The café hours will likely be around 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Jim Dawson said.
The couple said they’ve been encouraged by the buzz around the town about their new coffee shop, so they’re pleased to officially announce its opening.
