They’ll be ready to ride and roll when we are
Café Domestiique has been renovating new location during the pandemic
Through the heavy-duty clear shower curtains separating customer from barista, café owners Krys Hines and Kendra Fulford have felt the overwhelming support of their customers amid COVID-19.
“The support of our customers is humbling,” says the former manager at Thirsty Cactus and Brux House, who has partnered with Hines to open Café Domestiique in the midst of the pandemic.
If you know Café Domestiique, you’ll catch the nod to the original road-cycling-themed café in the new name which features two i’s in “Domestiique.”
The new café opened Oct. 31 at King Street West and Foundry Street in Dundas after five months of renovations which, most significantly, included a more open interior space and two full walls of floor-to-ceiling windows. Bar height counters line the two windowed walls and new custom stools in Domestiique’s signature red and yellow with a diamond shape carved out of the back lay in wait for the time when customers will actually be able to sit down inside.
Slowdowns in renovations due to the pandemic have Hines joking about their multiyear expansion plan but neither partner is in any big rush to
finish the interior while the pandemic still rages.
“Luckily we have a long-term lease,” he jokes.
Fulford says that the slowdown is giving them time to really think about how they want things to be. She says she is inspired by what people who are lucky enough to be still working in the restaurant industry have been doing.
Some of the creativity that she has seen is almost like a rebirth. “The Hamilton community at large is so supportive, they have really picked up the torch and supported local restaurants. Our customers are always asking us if we are going to be OK and what’s happening? How are things? And they are being very generous with the tips,” she says.
The new shop is significantly larger than the old café on Miller’s Lane, which closed in December 2014 and features a great covered outdoor seating area which will undoubtedly be filled with spandex clad weekend warriors and their bikes spring, summer, and fall.
The fare is the same coffee that Hines has developed a reputation for, as well as pastries, soups and sandwiches.
Hines is excited to have found such a great location and a longterm lease that comes with a landlord who lives in the building and seems equally as excited to be making Dundas his new home.
The café is currently open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for takeout orders only.