The duo behind Presque Isle’s new coffee shop, Cafe Allegro, are feeling optimistic about their future in the local food business.
The new downtown bakery and coffee shop opened on Main Street in late December, and so far “It’s going well,” said co-owner Allison Basye.
“We’re getting quite a few regulars,” Basye said. “The community has wanted something like this for a long time.”
Allison Basye, center, owner of Cafe Allegro on Main Street, laughs with Theresa Fowler, left, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber, and Shawn Lahey, chamber president, during the cafe’s grand opening last week.
(Contributed photo)
Cafe Allegro held a grand opening celebration with the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 21, and the space is still being finalized, with an espresso machine and proofing oven for making fresh bread.
“We’re using as much fresh and from scratch as possible,” said Basye, a longtime chef and baker.
Among the mainstays on the breakfast and lunch menus are scones, made Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and paired with clotted cream, a kind of hybrid of butter and whipped cream. “It’s an English tradition.”
The cafe’s backroom will soon be available for conferences and group rentals, and the cafe room will soon have a stage for Friday and Saturday evening music performances, she added.
Basye and business partner Greg Doak opened the cafe as part of what they envisioned as a trio of businesses: the cafe, a sports bar and an Italian restaurant.
The sports bar idea has since been taken off the table, due to logistical issues of renovating the space, the basement of the downtown building under the cafe.
But they are moving ahead with plans for El Allegro, an Italian restaurant that will be located across the street of the cafe on the third floor of the former Key Bank building, with an outdoor terrace and rooftop garden. Dr. Curt Young, of Presque Isle’s Vision Care, owns the building hosting Cafe Allegro and the former KeyBank building, and is also a part of the business venture.
“We’re shooting for April of next year to open,” Basye said of the Italian restaurant.
She and Doak are also planning a kind of working vacation to northern Italy, where Basye once spent a year interning with a family restaurant to learn the regional cuisine.
