Local Loveliness SPOTLIGHT: Cafe Kindred

Jennifer Demetrio and Gary O’Hanlon of Cafe Kindred

This is a very strange time for everyone indeed, and we are no exception. Part of running/owning a restaurant is seeing your patrons enjoy time with friends and family, and share laughs over food and drinks they drool over (sometimes literally). Not being able to be a part of that experience is crushing. Most business owners know, if you only do it for monetary success, you’ll always fail. It’s about creating a part of people’s lives that bring them joy. Social distancing, though necessary, is completely contradictory to why we all enjoy restaurants and coffee shops. However, we will continue to offer take away service to our patrons so we may be able to come out on the other side of this madness together, with all of them. We’ve added Online Ordering as well so there is a completely contactless system of utilizing our business.

I guess somewhere down deep it was always within both of us. We are a true team in the sense that there are many times when being an entrepreneur is scary, and we are able to face it together. There is a true sense of pride bringing a business into society that is valued by the community, and that is what we’ve always striven toward.

Oh yes…coffee, coffee, coffee! Our days start quite early, so mostly during these COVID 19 times we are up and at ’em and heading into work to bake fresh pastries and set the shop for our loyal guests. Even on off days, there is always a copious amount of Vigilante coffee (shameless plug, roasted with expertise and love in Hyattsville, MD)

There wasn’t a specific time. An idea grew legs and a heart and once it had momentum there was no stopping it. However, the thought of ever having to leave our business and going to work for someone else doesn’t sit well for either of us, despite having done it and enjoyed it for so many years. I think it grows on you over time.

We chose the building we are in for typical boring reasons that are not super exciting to talk about. Mostly cost, build out return, parking space, etc.

We loved the Falls Church feel of older style but with a desire for growth and innovation. When we came looking for a space, there were no coffee shops in the area, and we wanted to introduce our belief in quality to the community. It is a very supportive area as well.

We like to think our company is different in that it is based on quality, truth, grit, and service. We are completely honest with our patrons and never sell ourselves as anything we aren’t in truth. We love our customers that have become friends; we bake items fresh; we use local coffee roasters; we treat our staff with respect and do all we can for them. We have, and continue to, work extremely hard to ensure we can put our best foot forward.

Running a business is part-time firefighter in that there is always a problem to solve, which in turn makes your business more valuable and streamlined. Currently? How to stay in business through COVID-19, but more importantly, how we come out of the other side of this in a place where our customers will feel confident and comfortable with enjoying life with others again. Will we be a place people can laugh again? That is our challenge.

Our absolutely favorite place to go is Dirt Farm Brewery in Bluemont. We live about 45 minutes away, and it is a retreat for the mind and soul. Truly beautiful scenery, dog-friendly, and good beer. On a more consistent note, we very much miss being able to go to Algonkian Park for daily escapes.

We are truly small business. We were truly built with hard work. We are a couple of people who were lucky enough to get our shot and put in hours and hours and hours of work to make it come together. We tiled, we painted, we moved and installed equipment. We worked every hour until we could afford staff. There are plenty of places out there that put the face on of being a small business; we are not one of them.

If we told you, it wouldn’t be a secret! Here’s one…there is not a single day that goes by that we don’t work on making our business better for our staff and/or guests.

Genuine.

Working in a hotel as a Pastry Chef; we were both Pastry Chefs in our past lives, before Cafe Kindred.

Embarrassingly enough, we don’t really have one. We just do the best we can. Some days are better than others, as they are for everyone.

Some of the usual stuff: Johnny Marr, Paul Weller, David Bowie. Our buddy Jason Hoese has been doing live Instagram shows so we’ve been watching him do his thing on there which is pretty cool.

The photography on @districtninja page is phenomenal. We’re not huge social media users except for business.

Love Great Falls the best.

None 🙂 Before this COVID-19 business I visited PureBarre Falls Church. It’s an amazing community and workout. Since they’ve closed, I miss them dearly, and look forward to visiting again. For now, walking the dog!

This is a strange time; we think people will mostly be looking for places that are local and will be giving up on the major businesses that have failed them when they needed them most. We will probably see a shift to support our neighbors in business, no matter what the industry, as opposed to major corporations. We’ll be seeing more people utilizing the skills they’ve learned during quarantine, and maybe more creative small businesses pop up. At least, this is what we hope for our society. Less focus on quantity, more focus on quality.

Wish we had some! Mostly industrial farm style stuff for decor.

There is no such thing. It’s like a favorite song; it’s whatever your soul needs in the moment. We love the pizza at Pizzeria Orso. So good!