Special delivery to a much-loved customer
Kensington restaurant delivers breakfast to regular diner after car accident
KENSINGTON – After a mid-January car accident meant that Clinton resident Brian Sutton would, for a few weeks, be unable to make his daily commute to C&B Corner Cafe for his favourite breakfast, restaurant owners arranged to have the meal delivered.
The Kensington cafe doesn’t typically make deliveries in town, let alone a delivery to a house two communities away. But making an exception was the least they could do for a favourite customer.
“It was the first thing that popped in my head,” said Karen Spiteri, who owns the restaurant alongside her husband, Patrick.
“Just a gesture, I guess. He’s such a great customer, and we love him so much and I wanted him to have his favourite breakfast.”
For the past couple of years, Brian would be the first one at the restaurant right as it opened every morning.
Like clockwork, he would flip the sign on the door from “closed” to “open” as he entered the dining room; each time, he would sit at the same spot and order the same breakfast – poached eggs, sausages, toast and fries, with coffee to wash it down.
“He really likes breakfast, and he really likes their breakfast,” said Brian’s wife, Donna Sutton. “So it’s been going on for quite a while.”
When the restaurant was closed for dine-in, Spiteri or another staff member would
always call Brian and let him know when restrictions had eased enough to open the dining room and he could resume his ritual.
She did the same on Sunday, Jan. 30, and that’s when she learned he had been in a car accident in mid-January and would be unable to make the trip to Kensington.
“I just said ‘thanks for calling, but Brian probably won’t be in for a while because he’s had an accident,’” said Donna.
His injuries were not severe, said Donna, he was just a bit bruised. Still, he was in enough pain to keep him in bed for much of two weeks, eating less often.
As of early February Brian had begun to recuperate, though his wife guessed it would be a few more weeks before he returned to normal.
When Spiteri heard about Brian’s circumstances, she knew immediately she wanted to do something to put a smile on his face.
“I was really concerned about him,” said Spiteri. “He always tells us that his favourite thing is our breakfast, so I immediately said ‘well, I have to take breakfast to him.’ There’s no other choice.”
That Tuesday morning, Spiteri’s husband Patrick drove out to Clinton with Brian’s favourite meal – with some extra sausages – as well as a breakfast sandwich for
Donna, who occasionally joins her husband at the restaurant.
“I said it wasn’t really necessary. They’re busy, it takes a few minutes to get out here, but they insisted,” laughed Donna. “So I said ‘great, I’m sure he’ll enjoy it,’ and he did.”
Brian, said Donna, was surprised yet grateful.
Knowing that the Suttons appreciated the gesture, Spiteri said that they would gladly make the trip to Clinton again if asked.
“Through the struggles that we’ve had with COVID, we’ve really been so thankful for those loyal customers,” said Spiteri.
“Despite everything, they keep coming back. It’s such a great sense of community, and we feel like we want to give back whenever we can.”
For Donna, having the owners of her husband’s favourite restaurant take time out of their days to deliver the breakfast came as a welcome surprise during a difficult time.
“With all the negative things going on, everybody’s going crazy. There’s so much dislike and hate and meanness out there,” said Donna. “I always believed that if everybody could just be nice to each other, that’s all it would take to make it better for everybody.”