All About The Woodstock Cafe | Episode #4 with Nikki Grant

🎙️ EPISODE 4 IS LIVE! ☕️✨

We’re back with another episode of Valley Living Co., and this one is all about one of our favorite places in downtown Woodstock — The Woodstock Cafe!

Grace & Alisa sit down with Nikki Grant, the heart behind Woodstock Cafe, for a conversation about small business, great food, community, entrepreneurship, and what makes downtown Woodstock such a special place to live and gather.

Nikki shares the story behind the cafe, her journey as a local business owner, and the heart that goes into creating a place where people can come together.

☕️ Grab your coffee and join us!

🎧 Episode 4: Nikki Grant | Woodstock Cafe
📍 Downtown Woodstock, Virginia
🎙️ Valley Living Co. — Life. Local. Real Estate.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts! 🎧

Have you been to Woodstock Cafe? Tell us your favorite thing to order! 👇

#ValleyLivingCo #ShenandoahValley #WoodstockVA #WoodstockCafe #NikkiGrant #DowntownWoodstock #ShenandoahCounty #VirginiaSmallBusiness #ShopLocal #SupportLocal #SmallBusinessOwner #LocalBusiness #ShenandoahValleyLife #VirginiaPodcast #RealEstatePodcast #LifeLocalRealEstate

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:16

Whether you're being investigating the building, or simply looking for your next local adventure, you're in the right place. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and join us as we celebrate the best of Valley Living. This is Valley Living Company, the podcast about the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Thank you for joining us with Valley Living Co. here in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. We are so happy to have Nikki with the Woodstock Cafe with us this morning. Um Nikki is right down the street from us. Really, we are at 125 North Main Street. You are at 117 South Main Street.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

You're at 117 South Main Street. But I did drive here this morning because I have an errand to run after. I could have could have completely. I did. I looked out when I pulled in and I was like, maybe she'll walk. I have to go get a case of tomatoes after this. And it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

And you can't walk to get the tomatoes, so or carry them.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So we went in to talk to you just about how the cafe came to be, really, and a little bit of its history, and then what you offer there, because we are there weekly. All the time. All the time. We'll go and get a coffee, breakfast, Grace gets breakfast, lunch, we've been to dinner service and all the things. And actually Grace was part of the wine club until she got pregnant.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

And then I got pregnant and I started just giving my box to Catherine. And um, she was like, That's so sweet of you. And I was like, Oh, don't worry, I'll be back. I'll be back. But also, Nikki's from Stralsburg. I am you're originally from Stralsburg, which I didn't know that until later.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

I left for 22 years. So I was gone for a long time before I came back. And if you would have asked me, I would have told you I was never ever coming back. Really? So I think it was probably a surprise to me too that I found myself back in the valley.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yes. So where did you go when you left? Um, DC, LA, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, back to DC. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

That is so cool. And the average person wouldn't know, wouldn't know that. No.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

No, we don't talk about it that often. Yeah. Yeah. That is so cool. But you weren't in the restaurant business. I was. Well, sort of. Um I I've always been in hospitality of some sort. Okay. I was an event planner for 15 years. And then I got recruited to work for a celebrity chef in San Francisco. So I went back into the restaurant world. I mean, I started as a server when I was 16 and served all through college. Okay. I really felt at home in the restaurant industry, but I think that people kind of looked down on it. So I was often asked, like, when are you gonna get a real job? Like, when are you gonna use your college degree? Things like that. So I think I I felt like I needed to do something outside the industry, but I mean it just I found my way back. It didn't really matter what I wanted. The universe put me where I was supposed to be. Right. So, and then I went to work for the largest privately held restaurant group in the country, which is Let Us Entertain You, in Chicago before coming back to DC. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

That is so cool because we would would not know that at all.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

It's funny, Jose and I don't really talk too much about where we were before we got here.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Right. Yeah. Yeah. So then how did the Woodstock Cafe come to be?

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Well, so the Woodstock Cafe was starting in 2005. Okay, the previous owners, Gene and Co. Um, I uh it's kind of a convoluted story, but my mom passed away suddenly um and pretty tragically, and Jose and I found ourselves back here for about a month, the funeral and everything. Um my mom and I had always wanted to buy a little market together, and there was one that we had looked at in another place uh here in the valley, and it just kind of didn't it never really worked itself out. But while we were here, it became available again. And Jose and I went and talked to the the owner and went through all the finances, and it just it wasn't the time for us, it didn't work out. But in that, um, you know, I had sat down and had a financial meeting with my uncle, um, and he was like, This isn't the thing for you, it's not gonna work. Um, but I do know of a place that's quietly for sale in Woodstock. And I was instantly like, oh, Woodstock. No, I mean, yeah, I was like, okay, well, let I'll, you know, I'll talk to him or whatever. Um, I ended up having a phone conversation with Co. and it turned out to be like over an hour long. So in the next year after that, uh, you know, things kind of fell into place financially. Um, I think we were both ready to make a move, and we decided to purchase the Woodstock Cafe. I do tell people that it was probably under duress of my mom, and I'm not sure. I wouldn't recommend making a huge life change. But it's, you know, it's worked out, and I I do feel very strongly that it was supposed to happen. Right. Yeah. So that's how we got here. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

And what year was that?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

2018 is when we started the negotiations. 2019 was our first day, January 2nd. So we are halfway through our eighth year, more than halfway through our eighth year. That's great. I feel like it feels less because two years of that was like COVID-related. Yeah. And it's a big blur for everybody. So it doesn't feel like we've been here that long. Yeah. Yeah. Even at dinner the other night, somebody was like, What have you been here? Like four years now? Yeah. Double.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

No, double the wild. That is wild.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

That is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

So, of course, you offer breakfast, great coffee, because that's what we go in there and purchase screw up to go in and coffee and work and all the things. And then lunch. You have a great lunch sandwich, pasta, homemade pasta with the biggest.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

I actually do a lot of different things. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, um, dinner three nights a week with our fresh pasta breads, locally sourced stuff. Um, and then Saturday we also do breakfast, but then we offer pasta special, lunch, dinner, and of course, brunch and lunch on Sunday. Yeah. Yeah. It's seven days a week. It's a lot. It's a lot. You're always there. Yeah. Yeah. Except for Mondays.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Mondays are your day off, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Yes. We're still open, but Mondays are day off. Yeah. That's good. And it doesn't really mean things stop. You know, our phones ring, answer emails, all the things. But you can do that from home if you choose. Yes. Yes. I do choose.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

To do that one blame.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

I don't blame you. Yes. So tell us a little bit more of dinner service. Because did you c did you come when you bought the the business? Were they doing dinner service also?

SPEAKER_00 6:48

One night a week.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

One night a week.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

So they did Thursday night dinner. Okay. So we kind of we continued that for the first three months, and then April of that first year, we rolled out Thursday, Friday, Saturday dinner service. Okay. Yeah. Yes. So and it it took a while. I have the I found that here in the Valley things take six months, a year to catch on. Um the clothes for COVID, while awful, kind of helped that because in that time we were able to do our pasta take and bakes and Jose's facaccia and the meals for families. And I think that that like was a good indicator of what we do for dinner. So people started coming out after that, and now you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

Yeah. It's wonderful. It's a great service.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Because we don't have no very limited.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Yeah, nice meals that you can go for dinner that you know it's like prepared. Locally sourced yes, locally sourced.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

I'm really proud of what he's done for food here in the valley. Yeah. You know, I mean, and it's funny because we've watched people's taste buds change too. Their palates expand and broaden.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

Well, you probably I know when we go to really nice restaurants, some things on the menu are sort of like I don't know what this is. I don't know what this is. So you probably had like a trial period where you were probably introducing like Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

It was definitely on the slower side. You know, but now like we do the wine dinners a few times a year, and we don't even roll out a menu. So it's basically just like a trust process. Like come, it's like horses, like you know. It'll be fine. Just open your mind a little bit. And I think people try things that they would never would have tried if it were on a menu. That's so and then they find out they like things they didn't necessarily know they liked.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

That is true too. That is cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

What is your um busiest day of the week? I've always wondered. Is it Sundays? Sunday brunch. Yeah, Sundays are crazy. Wednesday Burger Day. Oh yes, Burger Day. Yeah. Friday and Saturday for dinner. Actually, Thursday for dinner too. That's like our local night. That's when we see the most locals come out. Um, Friday and Saturday tend to be a mix of locals and people from out of town. People that are trying us for the first time.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

But yeah, Wednesdays can be crazy. A little challenging.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Yeah. Are you seeing a lot of folks from Bryce? You see them coming?

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, we do. I think Bryce is very seasonal with what's going on. You know, if they get a lot of snow and we see people summertime's a little off uh yeah, I think they're they're up there, they're at the pool and things like that. Right. We do see big fall traffic, people coming out, yeah. That makes sense. Which is awesome. Because it's beautiful here in the fall. Why wouldn't people come? Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. So tell us a little bit about your wine selection.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Yeah, my little wine shop.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

Yeah, what what's the spark behind the wine shop?

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Um, so the wine shop for me was a way that I could showcase small batch wines, female-owned wines, um, wines that you don't see in any big box stores. That's a really big thing for me. I don't want you to be able to go to, you know, giant or whatever and find something. Um, and the truth is they can always undercut me on cost because they're buying in volume, you know, and I'm buying a case or two. Um, so that was really important for me to make sure that it was curated that way. Um, and it's been really fun. Last two weeks ago, I had two winemakers in from Italy, two different areas of Italy, and they came and did an awesome event. So I've been able to like draw those people in, and they're doing, you know, smaller, smaller things. And I think that that's fantastic. I want people to be able to get something they can't normally get, which kind of involve evolved into the wine club, which I had tried to do years ago, and I knew that it was gonna be an undertaking. I wasn't quite sure it was gonna be as big as it is, and I'm so thankful for that. But we have 85 members. Oh wow. Yeah, and I had to kind of cut it off at 85 members because I couldn't manage it on my own. I had to bring somebody in to help me with that. That's a lot. Um yeah, yeah. It is, but the the shop itself is pretty small, it's only about 400 bottles. Um, it changes pretty often. I'm constantly tasting. I had like three tastings last week, two this week, two next week to to try to get new fresh things in there.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Right. That is so neat because there's really nothing else here that offers that in your shop.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

It's really fun. Yeah, and I realized when I would drink like two of the bottles, if I had a bottle and I knew another month or three, it's every quarter, right? Yep, yep. I would gift a bottle. So like even if you don't feel like you could drink it all, like to gift a Woodstock Cafe bottle of wine, and then the story behind this is from here, right? I did that for a closing, and I then I had a story behind it. Oh, my friend Nikki at the cafe, she has a wine subscription and she go eat lunch there. So it opens the door. It opens the door, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Oh, and the wine club's been really fun because everybody's been very interactive about it. So I do this whole thing, it's like a note from Nikki. Oh, and then I go in and I describe all three wines or talk about all three wines, but people have started messaging me. It's like what they love and what you know they're not loving, which is totally fine, right? Because it's right, completely subjective. Um, which I think it's been awesome. So I've talking to people that I don't normally get to talk to. I'm not always in the wine shop, so I get to hear their thoughts on the wine. Yeah, and that's been really interesting. That is so cool.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah, I'm not I love wine, but I'm not a big like I you you would I have no education in wine.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

Like I think you need to. I think you just drink what you like, and that's always been a a stronghold for me. Yeah, drink what you like. The industry should be approachable. I never want people to come into the shop and feel intimidated or uncomfortable. This world should not be intimidating or uncomfortable. Like ask questions. Yeah, ask questions, and then at the end of the day, just drink what you like. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

That is so cool. So there's three bottles in your in a box. Do you deliver that? Or you make it.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

If you're in Woodstock, I'll deliver it to you, but you have to come pick it up. I can't ship it. Yeah, I definitely can't ship outside Virginia. Yeah, it's also 85 boxes, so yeah, that's crazy. Uh huh.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

It's a lot. Like you'll see the week before all the cases come in. So the back hallway is just full of wine.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

I have seen that.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yep. Yeah. Well, that pretty much we're close to wrapping up for today. But thank you so much for talking with us about the cafe and what you offer. And we just encourage everyone to stop in and say hi to Nikki and your husband Jose, and just grab a sandwich or a coffee and uh enjoy the area. Let me know you're there. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

And people, I take clients in there all the time, and I'm like, this is Nikki and this her husband Jose. And they think it's so cool that we all sort of know each other, but that's the glory of being small living. It can be good business owners. But definitely stop in and say hello. And um, yeah, thank you for coming on. Thank you, girls. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah.