A Dream: Lori’s 9 to 9

Imagine this: It is three o’clock pm and you could use a break from your work day. You grab your wallet and head to the nearby cafe, order an espresso, and decide that a cookie would also lift your spirits. In fifteen minutes you feel revived and primed to work with renewed energy and focus. 

Here’s another scenario: You and your mom have not caught up for a couple of weeks. Late afternoon is an ideal time to see her, so you pick her up and head to a new spot your friend insisted you check out.  Once you arrive, you realize you feel peckish so you order a lemonade and some fruit and cheese. Your mom is not very hungry so she orders a cappuccino. You linger for a couple of hours and then leave, feeling sated in mind and body.

Or how about this: Your friends are visiting from out of town and you have been sightseeing all day. It is not quite dinnertime, but everyone could use a sit-down and a snack. Therefore, you head to the seemingly always-open-just-when-you-need-it-to-be, Lori’s 9 to 9, order a platter of cheese, salumi, and sliced veggies, along with some delicious bread. You decide some olives and nuts would round out this delightful afternoon snack, as well as a lager for your friends, wine for you, and an IPA for your husband. You spend time laughing, telling stories about your lives, and leave feeling refreshed and relaxed. This and other scenarios are easy to imagine; I dream about such scenes several times a week. Alas, in Santa Barbara, this is only a dream.

I work within a two-minute walk to three coffee places. They all close at three o’clock pm. What?! Isn’t that just the time that one wants a wee break from work? Isn’t late afternoon precisely when some caffeine is in order? Yes! What is this three o’clock closing madness? I cannot be the only one who craves some sort of sweet baked good in the afternoon, or, honestly, at any time of day. However, if I do not get to a bakery before two o’clock I am out of luck. Furthermore, restaurants who serve lovely desserts tend to close between the lunch and dinner service so that is a no-go. This is very frustrating to me. It is also nearly impossible to get a simple, well-prepared plate of savory foods in Santa Barbara without spending at least fifty dollars. All of these disappointments can be remedied and the preceding scenarios can be realized by the arrival of Lori’s 9 to 9.

This new cafe will be open five days a week, from nine in the morning until nine in the evening. The decor will be simple and cozy. Chairs and small couches will be upholstered in quiet shades of blue and lavender, the walls will alternate between floral wallpaper and a soft shade of white paint. There will be bouquets of fresh flowers on the tables and plants scattered throughout the cafe. Wood flooring will be caramel in color. Alright, let’s face it: I want this dream place to be a cross between having the look of The Duchess in Ojai and the warm, colorful,  and welcoming feel of Alchemist Jam in McMinnville, Oregon.

The kitchen does not need to be very large since a limited variety of baked goods will be prepared there a few days a week. A refrigerator will store the ingredients needed for baking as well as fruits, vegetables, cheese, salumi, and some beverages. In addition, there will be a pantry for storing dry goods and the simple, pretty plates, glasses  and silverware. The overall atmosphere will be relaxed, convivial, and warm.   Oh, and it will be built in such a way that conversations can happen naturally, not in elevated voices to overcome flimsy acoustics and booming music. 

Clearly, my desire for such an establishment is keenly felt, and I have spent many years imagining and talking about such a place. At the same time, I have worked in restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries, and subsequently understand what labor and knowledge would be required for success. Therefore, I cannot fathom bringing Lori’s 9-9 to life myself. Surely there must be someone in this town, or, dare I say, someone from out of town, who has been to SB and noticed our lack of a place like Lori’s.  I will lay out for this plucky, savvy, and deep-pocketed entrepreneur what the daily menu will include. The plan is to keep it paired down yet interesting, as follows:

• Espresso drinks as well as loose leaf teas (one black, one herbal)
• Iced tea and fresh lemonade
• Sparkling water
• Wine: one red, one white, one wild card (a rose, Grüner Vertliner, sparkling…)
• Beer: one IPA, one lager
• Baked goods: muffin or quick bread, scone, and one layered cake or pie each week, and fresh bread 
• Savory: cheese, salumi, veggie platter, dip
• Olives and nuts

With regard to the baked goods, they will vary. For example, one week may feature a passion fruit quick bread, a chocolate chip cookie, orange zest scone, and layered chocolate cake. The following week could feature an apricot muffin, cardamom spice cookie, plain scone, and sweet potato pie. What will remain a permanent fixture on the menu is great bread from a local bakery. This is something Santa Barbara excels at! 

Just think of it: the next time you are walking downtown with a friend, and you realize you desperately need a coffee while she would like a glass of wine and a nifty snack, you can pop into Lori’s 9 to 9. Instead of bouncing ideas back and forth only to come up empty, you just mosey over to Lori’s. You settle in, relax, and continue to enjoy a pleasurable afternoon. We need a place like this in our town, right? Who is going to step up to the plate? I am prepared and willing to forgo naming it after myself, supremely confident that this special cafe will become a profitable and beloved enterprise.