Date: Fri 12-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Lee-Steisel-Coffee-Delight

Full Text:

Mother And Daughter Team

Serves Up Coffee Delight

Ann Lee, left, and Karin Steisel are the new owners of Coffee Delight, at 51

Church Hill Road in Newtown. -Bee Photo, Howard

B Y J AN H OWARD

The sign at 51 Church Hill Road may still read The Chat House, but Coffee

Delight has been up and running at the site since December.

Karin Steisel and her mother, Ann Lee, are partners in Coffee Delight, which

is their first experience in owning a business. They expect their new sign to

be installed soon.

The shop was never closed, Ms Lee said. "We took over officially December 4,

and the previous owner stayed a week and trained us."

The mother-daughter team has little previous experience in food service, but

they have lots of enthusiasm and energy to make up for it.

"Years and years ago I worked in a farm shop," Ms Lee said. "Karin worked a

couple of months in a coffee shop and liked it so much she said, `Mom, why

don't we open up a shop?'"

The pair started looking around for a suitable business, and found the former

Chat House through a local real estate company, Curtis & Crandon, which had

heard that the business House was for sale.

"My daughter liked the area," Ms Lee said. "We fell in love with this place."

"The people are wonderful here," Ms Steisel said. "Everybody has been so

nice."

"We don't want to take away from the gourmet coffee shop image, but we offer

something different," Ms Lee said.

Ms Steisel and Ms Lee rent the building from Charles and Wendy White, who

recently presented them with some plants for the shop. "They like what we have

done," Ms Steisel said.

The shop offers breakfast and lunch menus. For breakfast, the shop features

breakfast sandwiches, bagels, muffins, scones, sticky buns and sour cream

coffee cake. In addition, there is a wide variety of specialty coffees,

including cafe au lait, espresso, cappuccino, cafe latte, mocha, chocolate

almond, and iced coffees and teas.

All the pastries are baked on the premises. "We're in at 6 am to do the baking

and make the coffee," Ms Lee said. The coffee is ground fresh each day.

Ms Steisel and Ms Lee have to get up early to get to the shop from their

respective homes in Prospect and Waterbury.

"I'm up at 4 am. I don't think the rooster is even up at that time," Ms

Steisel said, laughing.

For lunch, the shop offers homemade soup and sandwiches, hot dishes such as

chicken cutlet, and specialty pies, tortes, and cookies. Sandwiches include

the California, consisting of turkey, ham, honey mustard, cucumber, avocado,

red onion and sprouts; Bite of Europe, with turkey, bacon, avocado, stone

ground mustard and lettuce; hommus; veggie burgers; and the more everyday

bacon-lettuce-tomato, egg salad and tuna salad, all with choice of bread.

In the future, Ms Lee said they will offer salads, salad plates and wraps.

Juices, spring water and soda are also available for purchase, as well as a

selection of regular and decaffeinated teas, herbs and spices, maple syrup,

and tea pots and coffee cups.

"People love it here," Ms Lee said. "We get so many compliments on what we've

done so far. We're trying to improve every day."

The shop, which seats about 20 people, is still in the process of renovations.

"There was a lot of work when we took over," Ms Lee said.

The shop features tables for two or four and upholstered seating arrangements

with convenient coffee tables. Lace valances hang at the windows. The shop's

walls will soon display the works of local artists, beginning soon with

watercolors by Betty Christenson.

"We will rotate the paintings once a month," Ms Lee said.

Coffee Delight is open Monday to Friday from 6:30 am to 5 pm and 7:30 am to 3

pm on Saturday and Sunday. For take-out orders, call 426-3770.