The goal is to keep customers happy and coming back.
And it is apparently quite successful as Kimberly Foster is now celebrating 30 years as the owner of Harvest Café and Bakery, a popular mainstay in Simsbury.
"It's wonderful being part of this community that has supported us over the years," said Foster. "We love our customers, some who come more than once a day, and are part of our Harvest family."
The café, located at 1390 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, serves breakfast all day Tuesday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m., and lunch from 11 a.m.
A full retail bakery features made-from-scratch breads, muffins, pastries, special order cakes, desserts, cookies, small desserts, and more.
Daily, the café makes between six to eight varieties of muffins, including vegan pumpkin, blueberry, dirt bomb, and a gluten free lemon poppy. Scones include maple nut, Irish soda, and fresh blueberry. Also on the menu are four types of breads, including milk and honey white, cinnamon swirl, Anadama, prairie, Irish soda and cranberry soda; cinnamon rolls; and turnovers.
"We always try to make a gluten free muffin, bar, or cookie daily, and we also have vegan pumpkin muffins and vegan bread offerings," said Foster.
All the café's specialty cakes, with a variety of fillings, are baked fresh, from scratch. The café's specialty cakes include carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and Tuxedo cake, featuring chocolate cake layers frosted with real whipped heavy cream and glazed with chocolate ganache. mini, standard, and jumbo cupcakes in a variety of flavors and frosting are also available. In addition, the café has a full-service catering department for on and off-site premise events.
Customers can also rent the café for an evening event. The cafe and bakery receives positive reviews online, such as one customer who said, "If more stars were available, I'd give those too. You won't find another cafe/bakery like Harvest."
Foster attributes the café's longtime success to an experienced, hard-working, customer service-oriented team.
"My creative culinary staff is always cooking up wonderful seasonal specials to keep our menu exciting. We also have a creative everchanging menu to keep guests coming back," said Foster.
Scott Hauslaib has been the café manager since the start and is key to maintaining its welcoming vibe.
"I attempt to treat everyone who's coming in like they're my casual friend. I always say to them, 'This is all very casual and low-pressure fun.' We've been fortunate to provide a great atmosphere for people to come and grab a unique bite to eat as well as coffee and conversation," said Hauslaib.
"When I started working with her in 1995, classic diner format was what was out in the world, but Kim brought it up a notch, offering fun spins on things like western Benedict with eggs on house-made cornbread and banana bread French toast." Hauslaib appreciates the collaborative atmosphere. "Kim has a vision for her specials for the week and offers hands-on help with preparation as well as advice and direction on what we can do to make our menu items pop."
Some of the café's popular breakfast menu items include farmer's Benedict, banana bread stuffed French toast, lemon crepes with berries and berry sauce, and California breakfast melt. The lunch menu features house-made soups, chicken pot pie stew, quiches, classic and specialty sandwiches, salads, burgers, and more.
Best-sellers include the Thanksgiving wrap, town and country salad, west coast chicken, and Gorgonzola Portabella Melt.
"What makes our items special is our selection of fresh baked breads," said Foster, adding, "We have a large amount of specials for both breakfast and lunch that change weekly."
Foster originally opened the café with her mother, with her entire family working there at the beginning. She always dreamed of having her own culinary business.
"When I was small, I was always hanging around the kitchen with my mother and other family members. I loved cooking, recipes, family meals and celebration, but our family had no restaurant background," said Foster who attended Bloomfield High School and was part of a Vocational Culinary High School program.
"We had a great chef who ran the program and when he saw that I was more serious, he showed me that doing food could be more of a career where you ran a business, made a living, etc.," she said.
From there, Foster sought employment in the culinary world and gained experience from the businesses she worked for before attending college.
Foster went on to earn a restaurant management degree from Manchester Community College.
"During the time at MCC, I was able to work full time for Ann Howard's Cookery in Farmington. She opened Apricot's restaurant during the time I was there," Foster said. "I was able to work in most aspects of her business and assist in her cooking school. She gave me the opportunity to learn so much of the cooking/pastry work I have done."
Foster also worked at Nanshe's in West Hartford; the Watkinson School in Hartford where she was the food service director and utilized their kitchen for a catering business during off hours; the Beachcomber and Sweet Seasons in Wellfleet, Massachusetts; and the Connecticut Culinary Institute where she was an instructor.
The café and bakery fit the bill for her culinary philosophy.
"Great ingredients, great classic food, good portions. What interests me most is things that you have made and passed down for generations," she said. "There is a reason why these things last, food evokes memories."
In the beginning, Foster was the main baker, but after 17 years of also cooking on the line, handling administrative work, serving at catered events, and working at their contract foodservice locations, she relied on a talented staff to take over more of the daily cooking operations.
"I still work on cooking some catering items at times. During Covid, I went right back into baking and working daily in kitchen."
Foster said she is proud to be a successful female entrepreneur.
"I love it. My husband and children have always supported me 110%," she said, noting her pride in the café's upbeat, positive atmosphere.
"Our café is fun and inclusive. We are not pretentious, you become part of our family. Customers come when they're babies and now they're coming with their own babies. I especially love being part of an important memory in someone's life when we cater events," said Foster
"Our front of the house staff is always fun and welcoming. I hope everyone enjoys all the food we have. I'm happy we're established in the community and are a place where people feel at home."