A booming business will get a new home in downtown Orillia.
Eclectic Café, which opened a year ago inside Carousel Collectibles, had to search for a new location after the owners of the antique shop announced they would be retiring and closing the store on Dec. 31.
“I was happy to be there, but I’m happy that they get to enjoy retirement,” said Melanie Robinson, owner and head chef at Eclectic Café.
She shopped around for a new location, knowing she wanted to remain downtown. She looked at some places along the busier blocks of Mississaga Street, but ultimately landed a few doors west.
She hopes to be up and running in February at 39 Mississaga St. W., formerly the home of Fred’s Meat Market, at the intersection with Andrew Street.
“It has some history,” Robinson said of the former Fred’s, noting it was first a brewery. “What I’d love to do is get some archived photos and put them up in there. There’s something about the history of that space that’s very appealing.”
While that block of Mississaga Street — between West and Andrew streets — isn’t as bustling with shoppers and diners as some points east, Robinson can feel that changing and she wants to be a part of it.
“The block doesn’t look very appealing, but I think the plan for revitalization looks great,” she said.
She’s excited to see what will happen with the long-abandoned former BiWay building after the city’s council committee voted to provide the property manager with a grant to complete a structural analysis. She sees it as an opportunity to breathe new life into the block.
Robinson opened Eclectic Café on Dec. 21, 2017. She was not sure how it would go.
“I didn’t expect us to be so successful. I didn’t know if it would be a one-year project. I didn’t know we’d be creating partnerships with the Lighthouse, the Orillia Youth Centre and The Sharing Place (Food Bank),” she said. “More than anything, our customers drove us to the realization that we’ve really built up a customer base and they didn’t want us to leave.”
Robinson attributes much of her success to creativity. In the year since opening, she has organized a community dinner in the alley beside Carousel Collectibles and has taken part in the Flavours of Lake Country promotion and a farm-to-table dinner.
She also recently introduced a monthly menu with rotating features. Her commitment to buying and cooking with local products and produce is something she feels is attractive to customers, too. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s a Chopped Canada champion.
Opening her own restaurant in her own location will not be without its challenges, and she’s fine with that.
“There’s no challenge that we shy away from,” she said. “Yeah, we took some big risks this year, but you get big rewards if you take big risks.”
One of those rewards has been the growth of the catering side of her business. She’ll be able to grow it further in the new spot, she said, as there will be more room for prep in her bigger kitchen.
Robinson has five employees, and she said she will have room all of them when she moves a few doors down.
Eclectic Café will close Dec. 21 and reopen sometime in February.
