Archive: Around Town

Hope's WayProfile

The place is all ripped up.  Workmen are busy working from room to room, digging trenches for electrical wiring in the concrete floors, removing some walls, putting up new ones.  Meanwhile some quiches are coming out of the oven and will arrive hot at a catered event.  There is constant motion in the dining room, kitchens and all around.  And there is an undeniable sense of excitement as Hope's Way is hurrying to complete a major transformation in time for an April 3 reopening.  

In the middle of the flurry is Hope Rich, directing the construction and her catering business from a crowded office.  She is a bundle of energy, keeping on top of everything from furniture to electrical and plumbing, to a meat slicer delivery to a catering business that continues to operate in the chaos.  "We have always had the cafe as well as an off-premises catering component," she explains.  "What we wanted to do is create a meeting place, not only for catered events on-premises, but also for overflow from the cafe."
Rich has wanted to expand Hope's Way for 5 years.  At first she thought she would move out of the Triphammer Mall, but as time went on and the project came closer to reality a business next store left, making room for a major expansion not only  in the cafe area, but also in the kitchen.  Even the logo underwent a face lift, with the new design prominently displayed in the eight foot wide etched glass window of the new meeting room.


In the cafe the counter space is being expanded from the familiar L shape to handle pre-prepared meals to go as well as the sandwiches and salads that are made for customers eating in the cafe.  A "grab and go" counter will have mixed mixed greens, Caesar salads, sandwiches, yogurt and fruit.  A new glass and butcher block counter will hold the pastries.  And of course the sandwiches, fresh salads, soups and bakery will still be served.  Free wireless Internet will be available, with a counter and stools near the window that will be perfect for diners with laptops on the go.

Rich wants to encourage the tradition of meeting people at the cafe.  "It's amazing how many of our customers have met each other at Hope's Way.  I see them at Wegmans and they know each other."  This is a natural growth of her business philosophy.  "I always tell my staff I want customers to feel better when they leave than they did when they came in," she says.  "We are a destination."  She explains, "There is the right way, the wrong way and there's Hope's way.  'Hope's way' is what the client would like."

Everything is being replaced.  A new floor is being laid in the cafe, and even the ceiling will be new.  Rich gave the pictures away to the staff.  The chairs and tables were given away.  "Someone even took a toilet!" she says.  All this will be replaced by a new look.  The walls will be light yellow below a mahogany chair rail, with a pale yellow above.  Peach and blue with some clouds will be below the soffits, to match the design in the new meeting room.  The new mahogany satin chairs are coming from Italy.

Hope sits in front of the unfinished mural in the new meeting room.  A gold HW will be painted above the door, making visitors welcome.

The meeting room has a Tuscan theme with a full length mural along the front-to-back wall.  Rich decided what she wanted to be on it, and local artist Andrea Krebbicks is making it appear.  The painting depicts a road through Tuscany, showing a field of sunflowers and a vineyard, ending at a cottage with a gold "HW" above the welcoming open door.  Leaves on the trees spill whimsically onto the ceiling.  "You can book this room for a whole day, half day, meal period or for the evening," says Rich.  "We'll still keep our cafe hours, but we'll keep the meeting room open if it's rented.

Behind the scenes the kitchen is being doubled.  Separated by enormous coolers with doors on both sides, there will be two kitchens when the construction is finished.  The staff worked on one side while the contractor works on the other.  Then they traded sides so there would be no interruption in the catering business.

"The goal is to continue doing what I love to do," explains Rich, "to provide growth and opportunity for my staff.  The third reason is to provide service to the community."  While all three are important she clearly wants her staff to feel a part of her success.  "I have an excellent staff.  It is the team of people that makes Hope's Way," she says.  "They are like a second family to me.  I want them to continue to like what they do by growth and challenge.  I look at the excitement with this whole process.  I'm excited.  They're getting excited."  She also says that Tompkins Trust Company has been instrumental in realizing the project.  "It's important to recognize local institutions that help you make your dream come true," she says, adding that she invited them to put a sign in her window during the construction.

A new kitchen doubles the food preparation space.  Another kitchen provides plenty of room for the cafe and catering business.

Rich grew up in Ridgefield Connecticut.  She says her Dad liked to cook and when she was around 13 he asked her to help prepare a meal for guests, then one of the guests asked whether she'd like to help her.  She worked in a variety of food businesses including Baskin Robbins, a Jewish deli, and a German bakery.  She was Catering Director at Serve-Right for six years before opening Hope's way in 1994.  An expansion in 1997 doubled her space.  In the Fall of 1998 she and her Dad went to study together at the famous Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris, her only formal training.  

Sales are divided by catering work at Cornell, corporate work, private parties at peoples' homes, weddings and the business in the cafe.  The staff fluctuates between 30-35 and 50-55 during the busy summer season.  She lives in Lansing with her three children, David (15), Taylor (14) and Nathan (8), all of whom go to the Lansing schools.  Now she is too busy running the business to do the actual cooking for the business, but says she loves cooking at home, especially for her kids.

Executive Chef Bob Regeczi and Dale Krause have worked with Rich since she opened, and many of her staff have been with her over ten years.  Some have taken time off during the construction, but most are still working.  "Everyone is pitching in," Rich says.  "We're all just a team, go, go, go!"  In addition to keeping the catering business going while the cafe is closed the staff is helping to make sure the restaurant is ready to open on time, doing whatever is needed including putting legs on the new tables.

Construction began two weeks before the cafe closed on march 15.  The grand opening will be Monday April 3, when the cafe will be open for dining from 7am until 6pm, and from 6pm - 7pm for take-out on week days and 8am - 5pm on Saturdays.  Meanwhile the work continues at breakneck speed and the anticipation becomes keener.  Rich says, "It's exciting to see something that you've always dreamed of doing coming true."

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