The cafe at the YWCA offers more than a bite to eat. It’s also creating opportunities.
Proceeds from the eatery support YWCA programs, which assist women and their families. Come fall, it’ll also provide culinary job training, including catering.
Liana Hernandez — the
YWCA’s community life director and executive chef who’s a seasoned veteran of several popular local restaurants — oversees the cafe. It serves up pastries, sandwiches, salads, wraps, coffee and even daily aguas frescas, or fresh juices. It also caters events held in the building.
The emphasis here is on locally sourced, healthy fare. Looking for something other than the usual chips to accompany your local chevre cheese and avocado sandwich? Try a side of lightly pickled fresh veggies, stained a pale, pretty pink.
The cafe opened in November and though it’s tucked inside the YWCA building, the hope is that area residents will adopt it as their own, popping in for drinks and a bite on the way to work, says Tana Kelch, the YW’s sales and marketing manager.
She added that they’re working on teaming up with nearby Transit Cycles to start bike deliveries.
“At the end of the day, we’re making lunch,” Hernandez says. “But the ripple effects and connections we’re making, I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes us.”
