Café jumps through hoops
Opening any new business has its challenges. But opening a restaurant in the middle of downtown Spokane during one of the largest events of the year when the city is flooded with people is a sure test.
That’s what Deb Green and her daughter Megan Poffenroth took on when they decided to open Madeleine’s Café & Patisserie just days before Hoopfest at the corner of Wall Street and Main Avenue. The café doors quietly opened for the first time Wednesday morning.
“We’ve been working days straight for months now,” Poffenroth said. The café is a French corner bakery where patrons can grab a pastry, a cup of coffee or gourmet food to have there or take home.
Sitting down at one of the tables in the French country café for the first time all day Tuesday, the owners took a moment to relax before resuming the baking and cooking for opening day, “It’s a push to be open for Hoopfest,” said Green, the head culinary chef.
The staff of 15 will be working throughout the weekend to cater to the Hoopfest crowd. They plan to have a limited menu for this weekend with mainly grab-and-go food items, pastries and coffee. Beer and wine will be for sale and an outside drink table will be set up for a quick bottle of water or a cookie.Madeleine’s is not the only one scrambling to be ready for Hoopfest, which attracts thousands of tourists and people to the downtown area, generating millions of dollars in spending.
Across the street, the Paper Garden stocked water bottles, sports drinks and will have extra employees on staff all weekend, said manager Erin Meenach. Across from Riverfront Park, O’Doherty’s Irish Grille tried to order everything needed days before, including casual food in large amounts, said owner Tim O’Doherty, adding that the food sales during Hoopfest are the largest of the year. In River Park Square, Rock City Grill is offering breakfast specials and making adjustments to accommodate the larger weekend crowd.
“We built a large storage cooler six years ago in anticipation of events like this,” O’Doherty said.
Although it will be a hectic weekend, Green and Poffenroth said they’re as ready as they’re going to be.
The idea to open Madeleine’s is something they’ve been developing since Poffenroth attended the San Francisco Baking Institute. While Poffenroth studied to become a pastry chef, she and her mother brainstormed ideas for the café.
“So many dates have come and gone where we thought we’d be open,” Green said.
Last Christmas and Bloomsday were occasions the two initially thought they would be able to open. But factors including construction delays pushed the date to this weekend. Although the owners are functioning on minimal sleep, they are determined to be ready for business. And, they have had help from family and friends to get the final touches ready. Their back-up plan if they run out of certain food items is to simply make something else.
“We don’t want people to be walking by downtown and see that we’re not open,” Green said.