For many newly minted restaurant or cafe owners, opening their shop”™s doors is the realization of a lifelong dream. But for Kathryn and Luis Corena, launching their coffee shop, First Village Coffee, along Main Street in downtown Ossining was more about meeting the needs of a changing village.
“It wasn”™t like we had this dream and we were looking around as to where to do it,” Kathryn Corena said. “It was more, this has got to happen, and we”™re just going to step up and do it.”
With the transformation of Ossining”™s downtown landscape, including new residential developments and an influx of new residents, Corena said, she and her husband felt the village”™s Main Street was missing a central gathering space, like a coffee shop.
“I was tired of running to other coffee shops outside of town,” Luis said.
After gutting the 800-square-foot interior of what had been a bakery and cafe, the Corenas aimed for the store”™s aesthetic to be “a cool place, but also a very warm place.”
Industrial fixtures hang from the ceiling and mismatched chairs dot the shop”™s interior. Paintings created by local artists line the walls, including a piece depicting Ossining”™s history and evolution through the years.
“It felt weird to be obsessing over so many little details, but once we opened, people were like, ”˜I love all the little details of this place,”™ and I was like, OK, it wasn”™t a total waste of my time,” Kathryn said. “It”™s been crazy. The response has been amazing.”
“People are meeting here after work, meeting friends,” Luis said, gesturing to a couple who had taken up seats at a table near the store”™s entrance. “It”™s exactly what I wanted for a downtown space.”
First Village offers a relatively limited menu compared to other similar spots, choosing instead to emphasize “quality over quantity,” Kathryn said.
“We wanted it to be really high quality and really low pretense, and I think that”™s what people are responding to,” she said. “We also tell people to ask questions. If you don”™t know what a macchiato is, ask. That”™s what we”™re here for”
The Corenas source their coffee from nearby Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, a New York City-based company that roasts in Millerton in Dutchess County.
“Specialty coffee is a very high level of quality, which makes it more expensive, but there”™s a reason for it,” Kathryn said.
Along with its roastery, Irving Farm runs a training lab in New York City, which the Corenas and their three employees attended prior to the coffee shop”™s opening.
“The thing about coffee is, you can get great coffee but if it”™s not prepared in the right way it”™s not going to taste the right way,” she said. “Irving Farm was the perfect fit for us, because they”™re big enough to give us that added partnership, but small enough that I can drive to the roastery if I want to and see the process.”
First Village also sources its dairy products from Battenkill Valley Creamery, in Salem in upstate Washington County, and pastries from bakeries in Croton-on-Hudson, New Rochelle and New York City.
In addition to running the back end of the coffee shop, Kathryn has continued her work as a fundraising and marketing consultant for nonprofits and small businesses. “I take on less clients now, but I do a lot of writing at 2 o”™clock in the morning,” she said with a laugh.
Luis, whom Kathryn said is “just a people person,” has become the face of First Village, working behind the counter each day.
“He”™s always had people say to him, ”˜You should really be working with people and not in a warehouse,”™” Kathryn said. “We kind of banked on that.”
Before helming First Village, Luis spent a decade working for USIS Inc., a technology services company based in Pearl River, but entrepreneurship runs in his blood. Growing up, Luis worked alongside his single mother who owned and operated a variety of businesses, including a number of restaurants, in his home country of El Salvador.
“He was the piece of the business plan that I couldn”™t fully articulate,” Kathryn said. “I knew what he would be to customers, and that”™s exactly what he”™s become.”
With the addition of First Village, the couple hopes to add to what they see as the ongoing revitalization of downtown Ossining.
“I think there”™s a really good energy here, and people are really excited. I think there”™s a lot of hometown pride in Ossining, and I think that sometimes doesn”™t get realized,” Kathryn said. “Being a community hub for people to come and express that, I think that”™s going to be great.”
Housed in what was formerly Cidade Cafe, the coffee shop is also equipped with a full commercial kitchen behind the counter and an 800-square-foot, basement-level bakery. The couple hopes eventually to incorporate both pieces into their business and expand their offerings to include a breakfast menu or lunch fare.
“You have to crawl, then walk, then run, and if you don”™t, I feel like you just fall on your face, so we”™re going to get the coffee down, then maybe use the kitchen and maybe use the bakery,” Kathryn said. “I”™m excited for what that would mean for the future.”
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