Coco Cafe

............... It's the official opening day of your brand new coffee shop.  Thirty minutes into the business day a group of nineteen boisterous people enter your shop moving tables and chairs together, wanting to check out nineteen different menu selections, and putting your new barista to the test by ordering not one, not two, but three rounds of coffee and espresso beverages.  In the midst of all of this mayhem, one member of the group is wielding a camera and notebook to take pics and notes, she says, in order to feature your shop in an internet article that people all over the world will read! ..............
Suddenly, someone pinches you, and you awaken, sweating and heart racing, from this business person's nightmare.  Whew!

Meet the Owners
Charmaine and Candice

Thursday morning this "nightmare" proved to be reality for Charmaine Ridden and her daughter, Candice Smith, as Crawlers, Dale  Mitchell, Lee Rodwell, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Fran and Keith de Beer, June and Cayle Nash, Leanne Waller, Gail Darne Margaret Zoetmulder, Margaret and Arthur Marshall, birthday girl Colleen LeRoux, Ralph LeRoux, Beth Vieira, Nicolette Hijmans,  newcomeer Glenda Adams and camera lady Ellen, arrived at Coco Cafe for the August 1 Crawl.

This Week's Crawlers
Arthur, Margaret M., Gail, Beth, Keith, Stella, Beryl, Dale,
Gail, Lee, Cayle, June, Leanne, Fran, Margaret Z., Nicolette, Ralph
not pictured - Glenda 

Coco Cafe, the name of which was inspired by the first initials of its owners, officially opened its doors for business on August 1.  Located at 196 Main Rd. in Walmer, it shares the 11th Ave/Main Rd. corner building space with The Pop Shoppe.  On the day of our visit workers were still putting the finishing touches on the cafe.  The full menu was not up and running yet, but a limited selection of breakfasts and cakes were available Thursday morning along with Carraro brand coffee and a variety of teas.  As the shop seats about sixty people (inside and outside combined) there was plenty of room for more customers, though the Crawlers pretty much took up the outside patio area in order to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Meet the Barista
Dokus

Okay, let's go through that "nightmare" scenario...... 1) Yes, nineteen Crawlers showed up but not all at once, plus a table for fifteen was already set; 2) The menu was limited, but what we did order got rave reviews...I can personally vouch for the carrot cake!; 3) Coco Cafe's barista, Dokus, passed with flying colors through three rounds of coffee/tea preparation; 4) The pics turned out nice especially the one of the very photogenic owners!  Wasn't so bad after all, was it, C and C?  Crisis averted and now people all over PE, not to mention potential visitors from the four corners of the globe, know about Coco Cafe!

Coco Cafe's hours are Mon-Fri, 9-5:30, Sat, 9-2, Super Saturday (first Sat of the month), 9-5, closed on Sunday.

To start off at the table I relayed greetings to all from Crawlers Nomusa and Les who were on vacation at Kruger National Park.  They will be traveling for the next few weeks and will be missed at the Crawl.  Also vacationing for a while will be Crawlers Margaret Z. and Colleen.  The rest of us will hold down the fort while you are away.  Enjoy your travels!

Speaking of travels, the Crawlers got to talking about their favorite places (and coffee shops) in and around Cape Town.  With all the new info I gathered from the Crawlers' input I'm looking forward to another trip to CT soon!  An interesting topic that came up then was the Zimbabwean elections that had just been held days before the Crawl.  We all watch the news, right?  Enough said!

So, after a few hours of chit chatting, coffee drinking, and shopping at The Pop Shoppe, the Crawlers left Charmaine and Candice with a lot to clean up but with nineteen people who will spread the word around PE about the newest coffee shop in town!

~Thank you and Best Wishes on your new business venture to Charmaine and Candice!
~Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law, Lillian, in Binghamton, NY - Aug 9
~Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law, Phil, in Millersville, PA - Aug 9
~Happy Birthday to my nephew, Jon, in Edinboro, PA - Aug 10

Until next week,

Ellen