Photos by Milo Shapey, Redesign Intern
The long awaited Co-op Creamery Neighborhood Café opens to the public on August 12, with the Grand Opening on Sunday, August 16 to coincide with the Open Streets Franklin event. For the Grand Opening, tents will be set up in the street and parking lot of the Creamery building at 2601 E Franklin Avenue, with food for sale including the new ‘Franklin Frank’ – the co-op’s version of the classic frankfurter – and a house-made veggie burger. The co-op/café will be giving away free ice cream, $30 gift cards every 30 minutes, and a drawing for the grand prize: a chef’s table dinner for two with Creamery Café Chef Lucas Almendinger!
Original Franklin Creamery Co-op cooler door
The Café is owned and operated by the Seward Community Co-op, and is located in a building that originally housed a cooperative dairy and milk driver’s union beginning in the 1920’s. More recently, the building had been converted into office space, which presented a closed-off façade to the street. In 2013 the office user, a faith based publisher, elected not to renew their lease. The building owners were close to signing a lease with an underfunded chemical dependency non-profit when Seward Redesign got involved.
Redesign had strong interest in seeing this great building occupied by a user who would make a portion of the space open to the public again. Eddie Landenberger, Redesign’s real estate broker at the time, was aware that the Co-op was looking for a space for their administrative offices and bakery production. It was a perfect match, and he negotiated a deal that would ultimately give the co-op an option to purchase the building, which made it feasible for them to put in the investment the building sorely needed, including windows, HVAC, managing the asbestos, and the most visible change, the architecturally interesting lobby for the new elevator on the east side of the building.
In addition to the Creamery Café, the building now houses the co-op’s food production facility on the first floor (sausage, bakery and some deli), which will supply all Seward Co-op locations, and administrative offices located on the second floor.
The café’s menu features locally sourced Midwest fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner, using ingredients sourced from many of the co-op’s long-time providers. There will be a day menu, featuring eggs and grains, sandwiches and salads, and an evening menu starting at 4 pm focused more on craft entrees and table service. According to the café’s Executive Chef Lucas Almendinger, “the goal is to utilize the great ingredients that Seward shoppers want with new, wonderful tastes that haven’t been tried before.” (from the Aug-Sep 2015 issue of Sprout).
Fresh, house made baked goods, coffee and tea are available all day. Desserts, including house made ice cream, are also offered. Local craft beers and kombucha are available on tap, along with a selection of wines. Co-op owners can use their ownership benefits, including the 10% quarterly discount, at the café. The café’s hours are 7 am–10 pm Mon–Fri, and 8 am–10 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
