New cafe brings neighborhood feel to Stillwater

BY SEBASTIAN STUDIER PRESS INTERN

From freshly brewed coffee, to pastries, to a breakfast menu, to a lunch menu featuring delicious flatbreads, and even cocktails, newly opened You and Me Cafe in Stillwater has you covered.

Co-owners and couple Dariush and Sarah Moslemi are no strangers to owning a business together with the twosome owning a number of other restaurants, as well as three yoga studios across the metro and a candle manufacturing company called Carpe Noctem Candle Co. with locations in Stillwater and Las Vegas.

“We’ve made our career out of forms of art, and we’ve really loved the creativity of it,” Dariush said.

Tucked into the corner of Churchill Street and Fourth Street, You and Me Cafe is a unique form of art for the couple because of the location and atmosphere existent in the building.

“It is different than our other restaurants and businesses, those are really high traffic and you’ve got a lot more tourists,” Dariush said. “This is really specifically neighborhoodoriented.”

You and Me Cafe was formerly known as Chilkoot Cafe under its former owners and the Moslemis would visit with their children, loving the cafe and the location. In 2018, the location changed owners while the couple was busy with their other restaurants before Dariush got a call in December saying that the previous tenants were leaving, and asked if the couple wanted it.

“Absolutely,” Dariush remembers responding.

What then followed was an extremely rapid turnaround with the couple signing the lease in December, starting construction in January and flipping the location, updating the spot to become cozier but also more modern, before opening You and Me Cafe in the spring.

The cafe features multiple menus and a wide array of foods and beverages including a pastry menu that is always changing with a variety of sweet and savory scones that are wildly popular.

Numerous different coffee beverages are available, including a new drink that Dariush said is becoming extremely popular very fast called Japanese iced coffee.

Behind the delicious coffee is a programmable pour over machine called the “Poursteady” that Dariush says makes coffees “perfect and unbelievably good.” The cafe owns the only “Poursteady” machine in the state of Minnesota and utilizes it to make high-quality drinks.

Carly Fitzenberger is an employee at the cafe who has been in the drink industry for 10 years and the drink menu is entirely from her own personal recipes. Carly loves using the “Poursteady” and loves the creativity that comes with new drink ideas and collaboration with her coworkers.

“The heart and soul of the place is the staff, the people who are here every day making coffee,” Fitzenberger said. Moving to breakfast, the cafe offers all-day breakfast and popular breakfast items include corned beef hash and biscuits and gravy, along with a dish unique to this location called “egg smoochy,” which is a garlic potato whip with a poached egg on top served with toast.

The momentum does not stop once you reach the lunch menu, where you can find large portions in sandwiches and soups, but is headlined by the delicious and popular flatbreads such as “jalapeno popper,” and “walnut beet pesto” cooked in a specialized pizza oven.

“Jamming all these things into one place was really complex, but it works,” Dariush said.

The Moslemi couple continues to use their creativity by adding additions to the cafe, including selling their own branded coffee that can be bought and brewed at home as well as creating an online ordering system that allows customers to order from their phone and pick up their order quickly.

Dariush wanted to create the “cheers” of the cafe world, where people can come in and be comfortable and cozy while having the staff remember their faces.

The cafe is unique because there are “regulars” that will come in five to seven days a week, allowing the staff to remember their name and their order. Although Dariush appreciates the neighborhood culture that this forms, he still emphasizes the welcoming nature of the cafe that exists for anyone who walks in.

Sarah echoes the thoughts of her husband and thinks that there is a neighborhood atmosphere in the cafe but also recognizes the openness of the location.

“Our vibe is community, it’s passion,” said Sarah. “Our esthetics are intimate but airy, open and inviting.”

Walking through the doors, customers are greeted openly by staff and can find themselves a place to work against the bar facing the window with outlets and USB connectors or can find themselves a table to enjoy a meal with loved ones.

Sarah is highly appreciative of her staff that “knows the difference between coffee you can get anywhere and a cup of coffee that changes the trajectory of your day.”

A family has been created at You and Me Cafe and Sarah loves being a part of that family.

“Within its operation, the best part is that I love being a part of a staff that becomes like a family, neighbors that become friends and watching the patrons use this space for themselves,” Sarah said. “I love the opportunity to make someone’s day.”

You and Me Cafe is located at 826

Fourth St. South in Stillwater. Hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week. For more information, visit www. youandmecafemn.com/.

Sebastian Studier is an intern at Press Publications. He can be reached by calling 651-242-2775 or emailing intern1@presspubs.com.

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