Café opening is big news in tiny Blue Diamond

The sign at the entrance to the town of Blue Diamond reads:

Elevation - High

Population - Low

Burros -?

This village is only 30 minutes from the Strip, but mountains protect it from urban sprawl. Breathtaking desert views make the town of about 300 feel like a world apart.

This mining town is home to a mix of nature lovers and old-timers. Both groups prize the small-town quiet. So, while last week’s opening of a new café might not register as a blip on the radar of Las Vegas, it’s monumental in Blue Diamond.

There’s a stark contrast between the sleek, modern architecture of Cottonwood Station Eatery and the town’s other place to wet your whistle, a combined gas station, mercantile and sheriff’s office. Its style? Movie-set western, but authentic.

A dream fulfilled

Married couple Jody Lyman and Steve Enger have lived in Blue Diamond for 11 years. He commutes to Las Vegas to run Rigging Technologies, and they enjoy living near the outdoors to cycle, rock climb and hike.

“It made more sense to be in a town that felt like more of a community than a track home,” Enger says of his choice to live in Blue Diamond over Summerlin. “It feels like a neighborhood from the ’80s, when I grew up.”

The coffee shop had been long in the works for Enger and Lyman. As avid outdoor adventurers, they would travel around and note their favorite ideas and features from places they visited. Then came the long process of petitioning Clark County to allow them to start a café in a semi-protected area, not to mention getting the neighbors on board and persuading the bank that there would be enough traffic to this remote area to justify the loan.

Jody Lyman describes the menu as “not fancy, but delicious.” She grew up in Napa Valley, Calif., and worked in coffee shops while she studied art and sculpture. The menu is influenced by the California style, with paninis, pizzas, homemade baked goods and locally roasted coffee from Desert Wind Coffee Roasters.

On this sunny weekday morning in the first week of business, it seems like everything has fallen into place. Enger is still sporting knee pads and a scraped