You can get practically anything you want at 2 Alice”™s Restaurant. The Cornwall-on-Hudson coffee klatch shop, which serves up a mean cup of  joe, latte, light fare and music, is now owned by Mikey Jackson and Aurelia Winbron, two Brooklynites who chose the view of the Hudson over the view of the East River.
“We loved Brooklyn, but there”™s no way anyone can really afford to buy anything there,” said Winbron. “Mikey and I were taking a drive when we took a turn and ended up in the village of Cornwall. It was right out of a book ”“ from the old Victorian homes to the small stores ”“ just what we envisioned in a small New England-type of town.” And so, thanks to a wrong turn, the couple feels they made the right turn in both moving to the region and investing in their new community.
“We loved 2 Alices and often came here when we first moved here,” said Winbron. “When we learned the owners wanted to sell, we decided to take the plunge.” Jackson and Winbron bought the coffee shop Oct. 29, 79 years to the day marking the beginning of the Great Depression.
Scary? “You bet,” said Winbron. “We don”™t know what”™s going to happen with this economy, but 2 Alices was very popular and had a regular following and still does. We don”™t know what”™s going to happen with real estate, but we love our new home. We aren”™t planning on going anywhere. We loved this little coffee shop.  It”™s a sit, chat, have a latte and bring their laptops. We have great coffee we buy through a Vermont firm, Mocha Joe”™s, that deals directly with coffee growers, so we know they are getting paid a decent price for their produce. That”™s important to us.Â
“We have music on the weekends, so the bands draw in their own following. Last Sunday, we had a children”™s show in the afternoon, and that drew in a whole new group of people. We wanted 2 Alices to remain part of the community, not just because we loved it, but because it”™s a great fit and there”™s a place for it.”
Although the couple has invested in their community, they remain ensconced in their profession: camera technicians. “We are freelancers, doing  mostly TV shows and movies, so we are very flexible and work mainly in Manhattan,” said Winbron. With a 3-year-old son to take care of, the couple can “take turns and work out a schedule so someone is always home with Atticus. That”™s very important to us.” They bought one of those old Victorian homes, circa 1870, to complete the picture.
“Everyone is worried about the economy, but I think we just have to have faith,” said Winbron. “We don”™t have a choice but to get through it as best we can. It is sad to see so many businesses closing, especially here on the village”™s Main Street.”
Winbron hopes others will take a wrong turn and end up in the right place, as she and her husband did. “We love it here,” she said. “We found the house of our dreams, a great community and have invested in the community to keep it going … and we”™ll do what we have to do to survive, just like everyone else.”
