Caffeine Central E. Rutherford

[Spinner]

Hey everyone!

Long story short, my fiance and I are opening a coffee "house" in E. Rutherford. We are on Paterson Ave.

It's been a long time dream of my fiance to open her own coffee house..but with a twist. And it's about to become reality when we open in 2 weeks.

We have "themed" rooms. An Asian room, a Tropical Room (complete with Astroturf!), a 50's diner room and our main room where the coffee bar is located.

We are doing on-premises baking for our desserts and we are also going to offer homemade soups, salads and wraps along with ethnic specials for each room.

I just wanted to let everyone know about us and we will be offering a special for EGullet members on our website once we open. Any questions or any other comments..please post them here.

[Rosie]

Address, phone #, menu?? Do you have a URL?

Congratulations and best wishes on this new venture.

[ejebud]

It's been a long time dream of my fiance to open her own coffee house..but with a twist. And it's about to become reality when we open in 2 weeks.

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Congratulations on realizing a dream!!! I too am in the process, albeit the beginning stages of it, of opening my own hot dog joint. You Egulleters will have yet another stop to make on the next hot dog run!! Anyway, Good luck to you guys!!

[phaelon56]

Any questions or any other comments..please post them here.

Just one question.... why couldn't you have opened when I still lived in Rutherford and the best espresso/coffee in the entire area was at Starbucks on Rte 17 South? (and it was pretty crappy).

Congrats on the pending opening. I plan to make a weekend trip to NYC and also to have a meal at Melt in Jersey City - I'll have to stop over at caffiene central also.

I really shouldn't complain about having been stuck with crappy coffee sand espresso when I was in NJ. It was that very dilemma which forced me to start doing home roasting and also acquire the proper gear and techniques for making killer espresso shots at home. I've now parlayed that into a lucrative part time job as a roaster and espresos machine technician with a career path open into the business.

Would you be kind enough tp post about this in the Coffe & tea forum and offer a few details for the coffee obsessed among us? I'm curious to know what kind of machines you're using, what beans -source and varietals if you're willign to share that) , what prompted you to get into the business etc.

By the way... I think the idea of theme rooms and baking on premises is very good business!

[Curlz]

Wow...this IS exciting! Hope you'll have time to keep us posted as you get through the process. Best of luck!

[Spinner]

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Im going to post the url to our website below but it IS NOT DONE. Once it is done..Ill post an update. But it is 99 percent done so I will probably put the url up for it this weekend.

Our address is 245 Paterson Ave, E. Rutherford NJ.

Phone is 201-729-0700

The menu will be on the website once it is complete and Ill give out the URL then.

Side note..Melt! That is a fantastic concept..I shall be getting my butt over there as soon as I can.

We FINALLY finished painting today..we decided to do it all ourselves to save money. The SBA didnt give us nearly enough on the loan but I have been saving for close to 5 years so we have just enough capital. Ive been so anal about not being undercapitalized going into this and Im glad I was. On the other hand..

We saved money sure.. but my arms are now rendered useless. We also cleaned and polished the convection oven and range. Now, I just have to set up the wi-fi access points and we should be good to go. I also purchased some fans for a certain special we want to offer in the Asian room in the future..

Once again, thanks for all the support!

Edited March 9, 2005 by Spinner (log)

[phaelon56]

I also purchased some fans for a certain special we want to offer in the Asian room in the future..

Now you've piqued my curiosity. Are they exhaust fans and perhaps you'll be featuring Durian smoothies?

[Spinner]

Ha Durian smoothie...yummy!

The fans I purchased are for drying something..Ill say no more until I perfect the technique. :)

[Spinner]

Hello once again.

We FINALLY opened this past Tuesday. It's been a fun couple of days as we get into our rhythm and whatnot.

Anyway, check us out at http://www.caffeine-central.net for information.

We are serving Kenyan AA tommorrow. Im particularly impressed with this batch that we got in.

Thanks for the support!

[richl2214]

Nice!

I'll have to stop by soon and give you some feedback on those great sounding desserts.

Good Luck!

[Rosie]

Wishing you the best.

[jwjojo]

Congratulations as well! We live close by and will drop by soon. Do you allow smoking? (I hope not!)

[phaelon56]

Nice web site. I'm a bit surprised that you're not open for the morning trade. Is it impractical due to the hours you're already putting in or do so many folks in the area take the train/bus to the city that the volume wouldn't be there?

[Spinner]

We are going to be opening early starting next week. We wanted to pace ourselves during our first week..we will be doing a light breakfast and coffee in the morning. The hours are long but we are already here so we might as well open early.

There are 2 bus stops within 20 feet of our place.

I hope to see some of you soon!

Edited March 26, 2005 by Spinner (log)

[Spinner]

Id like to thank the EGulleter that stopped in to look around tonight. Unforunately, I wasnt there because I finally got a few hours off to rest but my fiance and I thank you very much.

BTW, Id also like to point out that there is a 10% off coupon on our site as well. Take advantage of it. We would love to see more EGulleters come by.

Edited March 29, 2005 by Spinner (log)

[Curlz]

Er, um, that would be moi. (blush)

But you beat me to it...I was planning on posting that I had stopped by b/c I was in E. Rutherford tonight and just had to see the place. It's adorable! I used to live all of a mile from there, and there was nothing except the Dunkin' Donuts nearby for coffee...we would have loved a place like yours! So kudos--it's really nice, street parking over there is rarely a problem, and I can't wait to stop in with a friend or two. And I love that you had board games available (When's the last time you played Connect Four?!?) for the customers. Add a Scrabble board or Boggle, and I could spend the afternoon!

For those of you who don't know the area, it's a really easy off/on to Rt. 17, which connects to Rts 3, 80 and 46...so no excuses!!

[Spinner]

Thanks for stopping by Curlz!

I had called my fiance (the one without the grey shirt with our logo on it) up because I worry any time I am not there. She said "Someone from EGullet came in!" and I was so happy to hear that. I have been telling her about EGullet since I have been trying to expand her culinary tastebuds and it seems to be working.

As far as the games go, we have a Scrabble board from 1953. It was my grandmother's. Boggle..well I will see what I can do :) but we also have games on every table in the place. We actually have a table that is a Checkers board.

Next time that you stop by, take advantage of our parking lot behind the building. I look forward to seeing you soon and please feel free to ask any questions that you have about our coffee offerings for the day.

Edited March 29, 2005 by Spinner (log)

[NJ2FLA]

Hi Spinner (forgot or didn't notice your first name),

Are you going to make white chocolate hot chocolate?

A coffee house in Hollywood, FL that I go to makes it and serves it in this huge mug and I love it!

Thanks!

-Scott aka NJ2FLA

[Spinner]

Hey NJ2FLA..

We serve White Choc. Mocha Hot Choc.

[NJ2FLA]

Well then I am there like a bear.. good thing I have NAV in my car. My brother used to live right around there in Lyndhurst.

Best of luck with your business by the way!

-NJ2FLA

[Curlz]

Thanks for stopping by Curlz!

I had called my fiance (the one without the grey shirt with our logo on it) up because I worry any time I am not there. She said "Someone from EGullet came in!" and I was so happy to hear that. I have been telling her about EGullet since I have been trying to expand her culinary tastebuds and it seems to be working.

As far as the games go, we have a Scrabble board from 1953. It was my grandmother's. Boggle..well I will see what I can do :) but we also have games on every table in the place. We actually have a table that is a Checkers board.

Next time that you stop by, take advantage of our parking lot behind the building. I look forward to seeing you soon and please feel free to ask any questions that you have about our coffee offerings for the day.

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Great to know there's a lot out back...I had no idea! And I look forward to seeing this Scrabble board--wow! Are you sure you want to leave that out?!?

For Scott and others who are familiar with Lyndhurst and Rutherford, it's REALLY easy to get to CC from there--just take Park Avenue through Rutherford, cross the train tracks, and follow Park to the end. Turn left, and CC is on the right on the next corner! Tough to miss it coming from that direction--I promise.

[phaelon56]

For Scott and others who are familiar with Lyndhurst and Rutherford, it's REALLY easy to get to CC from there--just take Park Avenue through Rutherford, cross the train tracks, and follow Park to the end. Turn left, and CC is on the right on the next corner!

If you're heading home for a meal later that day after stopping at CC, there's a nice little Italian bakery on the right hand side just before the end of Park - good bread to be had there.

[Spinner]

Hey Curlz..Ive got Boggle coming in the mail. Boggle rules. :)

BTW..if you come in and you are looking for White Choc. Hot Choc...just ask. It is on our menu but we havent had a chance to add it to our printed menus. It is on our special board however.

By the way...my name is Dave..so if you come in please ask for me. I would love to meet you.

A funny little story..

Today, we had two customers come in and they were very skeptical about our claim of "on-premises baking". They didnt think we could get all of the deserts that we have out for service in one day. My fiance (6 years in the Army) isnt as patient as she probably should be but she is a total sweetheart.

Anyway, she calmly explained that we do all of our baking every day and that our products are as fresh as can be. Just as a debate was about to begin, I came waltzing out of the kitchen with a Chocolate Truffle Cake and our White Chocolate Truffles (that look like chocolate chip cookies). At that moment, one of the customers asked "Uh..that cake..is that is what I smelled?" and I said "Yep..baked right here!". I had been listening of course..

Well, it was a fun little moment and they were very nice people..heck..5 cups of coffee, 2 wraps and 2 desserts makes them great people in my book!

If you get the Bergenite, take a look tommorrow.

Id like to thank you for all your support. Because of this site, I finally got my fiance to taste fleur de sil..she loved it of course.

Edited March 30, 2005 by Spinner (log)

[Spinner]

And here is a picture of my bestest friend..all shiny and new!

The convection oven is to the left of the range. I have more pictures but I am hesitating to post them because Im not sure that this is the place to do so.

Edited March 30, 2005 by Spinner (log)

[Curlz]

Ooooh...I love some good kitchen porn in the morning!! Thanks for sharing!

And you're right--Boggle DOES rule. I don't play it often enough, but plan to do so over a cup or two at CC.