Pipe Dream
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I have two dreams in life: 1. To open a café. 2. To start a farm. Today, let’s explore dream number one, an idea a college friend and I have been scheming for years.
The café might be called something like Olallie, open for breakfast and lunch daily from 6am to 3pm. My friend, a lovely girl, would run the front of the house, wooing customers with her big smile and California charm. I would hide in the back, mounting butter into croissant dough, shaping boules and baguettes, firing pizzas into our wood-burning oven. And if all goes as planned, after lunch every day, when the grunt work is complete, my friend and I would turn the reins over to our obedient staff while we dipped biscotti in our cappuccinos and read the newspaper on our sunlit patio.
At Olallie, we would serve coffee and tea, homemade muffins and scones, wood-burning-oven-baked breads and pizzas, salads and soups, house-made granola and open-faced tartines. We would be renowned for our sandwiches. All of our ingredients would, of course, come from local farmers or Fair Trade vendors and would change with the seasons, peaches in the summer, persimmons in the fall. I’m still working on perfecting our signature coffee cake, but Teddy’s Apple Cake will make a fine substitute in the meantime.
I know, I know. Let me dream.
This folder, created in 2003, holds all of the recipes we will use at Olallie’s.
With any luck, our cafe will draw a loyal following, much like San Francisco’s Tartine:
And, after years of honing our skills as restaurateurs, we will turn that folder of recipes into a fantastic cookbook. I am so excited about my latest purchase: The Tartine Cookbook:
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47 Comments on “Pipe Dream”
What a fantastic (and well-thought out) dream! If I lived near you, I am sure I’d be one of your “regulars”!
Go after those dreams, Alexandra!!! They ARE attainable!!! Hooray!!! :0)
You never know this may happened sooner than you think. I love going out for breakfast.
I have the same dream…looks like you are well on your way. Do it!! I love Tartine! The bakery is fabulous and the cookbook is too! Enjoy!
What a dream! I love it! And if you make it come true, I’ll come and eat there! 🙂
You are very well prepared! It doesn’t have to just be a dream. I used to own a cafe, 10 years ago. All you need is passion and guts. With your skills as a cook/baker, I would cross country in a heartbeat to visit 🙂
All dreams start someplace and you have a great folder! I love Tartine. I made the lemon meringue cake once and it was so good! Have fun and we’ll all be first in line at your shop when it does open!
I, for one, will certainly NOT sneeze at your ideas. I’m all for ideas and dreams and making scones and eating biscotti…
-JJ
I’ll be there! Better yet, I’ll write press releases and stories for the papers for ya’ll!
I love the egg picture.
Wow,I have the same dream as well. To be honest your sign makes me want to go, no matter what you serve.
UM. I have one dream now. To eat at your cafe!
Good for you! I would love to eat there.
Do it!
OMG – that fried egg BLT. Mmmmm!
Follow and chase your dreams, it’s what makes life more palatable.
talk about food porn! I’d make the trip to olalie for sure 🙂 you’ve got so much of the leg work done… sounds like it’s time to make this dream a reality!!!
You go girl!! Do It!! It sounds like it’s under way! If you bake …they will come!
May your dreams come true! I’ll come eat breakfast at your place.
I want that cookbook!
Sounds like a wonderful dream 🙂 I’d love to eat at your cafe because I’m sure the food would rock!
Hah! When you dream, you are certainly very thorough! I do not think it’s a pipe dream, though. It can happen! All’s we needs izza buncha investors 😉 I’ll be first in line when it opens (hopefully I’ll be in the area!)
Dreams do happen!!!!!!!!!!!
You are so cute! I have that dream too, but then I think about the real life amount of work running a small mom and pop cafe would take and I change my mind. Actually, my current dream is to do the personal chef thing. But that is many many moons out.
The baby step approach is a sound one. My favourite part is watching the obedients carry out your vision while you dip biscotti in cappucino – I’m there for that part.
Do it! Do it! Sounds perfectly dreamy.
I’m up in Washington right now visiting my sis and yesterday we went to a popular cupcake bakery called Hello, Cupcake. Now I want to open a cupcake bakery. It was terribly cute!
the marketing material looks great… the sandwich, even better… go for it… 🙂
it sounds to me like you’re well on your way to making your dream a reality! keep up the progress–it’s inspiring. 🙂
I’d be your first customer! Everything looks so good!
You’re so funny! What a lovely post and lovely dream. I’ll sure be a client if you let me dip some biscotti in cappuccino too!
There’s a surprise for you on my blog!
Keep working at it and work for as many other restaurant owners as you can. My wife and I own a place much like what you are describing (we never get to sit down and eat anything together though, haha.) It was her dream since she was a child and it took her until she was 34, but we have a successful business of 6 years next month and hopefully another location next year.
You can do it!
yay! i love it!