I'm Dreaming of a Little Cafe

My husband and I have a dream, one we nurture little by little over dinner on our date nights. We dream of one day owning a restaurant, a little place with a handful of tables, no more than ten, where we'll serve great, knock your socks off, tear inducing, saliva releasing meals. We don't want a fancy place, although we will have white tablecloths, just a casual place that couples can come to for an intimate dinner. We want it to be a neighborhood place, a place with regulars, the type of place that will remember that you like a little extra sauce and not too much salt.

We keep a little notebook on the shelf and every time we see something we like in a restaurant, we add it to our dream book. Warm bread on the table with little chilled jars of salty European butter. Scones to take home for breakfast the next morning. Fresh food from local producers. Fondues... cheese for appetizer and chocolate for dessert. Little by little, we're building our little place in our heads.

We're in no hurry. The plan is to have all the kids be done with college before we open. And hopefully to be comfortable enough that we just need to break even with this restaurant, no worries about the dismal failure rates of restaurants, just a little place to call our own.

Every once in a while, we come upon a place that we fall in love with, a place that has a lot in common with the restaurant of our dreams. Natalie's in Ridgewood was such a place. And now La Chatelaine in Dublin is another. One is Italian/American and the other is decidedly French, but both are warm, welcoming establishments that serve great, casual food.

Just like the Chefdruck Cafe will too... someday.