Café and bakery to open along Historic Third
Local restaurateur Sammi Loo is cooking up a new café concept for Historic Third Street in downtown Rochester.
Loo plans to open Mezza 9 Café and Bakery this February at 20 Third Street SW. The location was most recently occupied by Bar Buffalo.
Loo says the space will take on the feel of a European-style café, with a menu featuring pastry staples like baguettes and croissants. There will also be hints of Asian influence in the café, Loo says, including a made-from-scratch coffee bun inspired by her Malaysian roots.
"To open a café and bakery has always been one of my dreams,” said Loo, whose 15 years in the Rochester restaurant industry includes opening Ootori Sushi. “And when I looked at that place in the downtown, it just popped into my mind — this is the place I want to do it."
In addition to pastries, Mezza 9 will also serve up coffee from Bootstrap Coffee Roasters along with breads, pies, and cakes made in-house.
The space will have seating for about 20 to 25 people. The café, which Loo says will likely be open Monday through Saturday from morning until evening, will also offer to-go service, delivery, and curbside pick-up.
Loo says she expects to have four to five people on staff once open. The space will also feature a pop-up kitchen, allowing home-bakers and others the opportunity to use a commercial kitchen and showcase their work.
Silver Lake Books completes expansion
Rochester has a new destination for book-lovers.
Silver Lake Books recently completed the second phase of its renovation of a former warehouse at 903 Sixth Street NW, near Forager Brewery.
The bookstore is owned by local author and photographer Lisa Loucks-Christenson and her husband, David Christenson. The couple opened the business in the Silver Lake Center plaza back in 2019, before moving to the larger warehouse space earlier this year. Loucks-Christenson also own Peacock Books & Wildlife Art inside the Kahler Grand Hotel.
Silver Lake Books carries a collection of new and used books, some of which are from local authors, including Loucks-Christenson herself. In addition to books, the store also offers an assortment of cards, art, games, and records.
With the larger space, Silver Lake Books also plans to host book signing and other events in the future. The store is now open Monday through Friday.
Mayo shops local for the holidays
As part of a collaboration with Mayo Clinic, Gift Rochester has announced that $364,000 will remain in the local economy this holiday season.
This marks the second consecutive year Mayo has enlisted Gift Rochester to manage its holiday gift giving. This season, managers ordered more than 22,000 gifts from 68 small businesses, up from 14,000 gifts last year.
Gift Rochester is the brainchild of White Space, a Rochester-based branding agency. The idea for the service emerged out of the pandemic as a way to support small businesses during a challenging period.
“By creating an online pop-up shop for local businesses, we were able to support our community’s economy, spread the word about amazing local products, and supply corporations an easy, convenient way to recognize employees during the holidays,” said Sarah Miller, founder of Gift Rochester. “The heart of this endeavor is supporting our friends and neighbors, which we were happily able to accomplish.”
(Editor’s note: Sarah Miller is the better half of yours truly.)
This year, to accommodate the increase in orders from Mayo, Gift Rochester set up a temporary warehouse in downtown Rochester. The top gift for the second straight season was popcorn from Carroll’s Corn. The downtown business sold 3,227 gallons of popcorn through Gift Rochester this year.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
