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Part-owner
Jon Steffens said, “Our grand opening received great support
from the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and a steady crowd of
residents throughout the day.
Downtown business owners and patrons came out to show
support, and almost everyone bought something.”
The Steffens brothers, Jon and Jason, operators and part
owners of the café, are a part of a family corporation that
includes their parents, business entrepreneurs Larry and Bette
Steffens.
[Beth and Jason Steffens stand behind the counter
of their newly opened café.]
Jon
and Jason Steffens liked the idea of gourmet coffee blends and
flavorings so much that they decided to open Grapes and Grounds.
Jason’s wife, Beth, has been instrumental in the
launching of this new venture. “We are trying to create a social
climate where people can meet friends or read the newspaper while
they drink coffee and eat sweets,” said Jon Steffens. Biscottis
are now available, and the dessert menu will be expanded to
include muffins, pastries and many of the dessert items that are
served at Eckert’s Fine Dining.
Jon
Steffens joined the family corporation in December 1998 as a
partner and is the chef for Eckert’s Fine Dining, another of the
family’s holdings. The
restaurant serves gourmet six-course French and Italian fare.
Jon said that his love of good food blossomed after a
six-month stay in Italy, as did his love of fine wines and
coffees.
The
café serves a full array of specialty coffees: cappuccinos,
lattes, espressos with and without flavors, as well as specialty
teas. The café also sells its own special blend of packaged
ground and whole bean coffee under the Grapes & Grounds label. Chia tea (the Turkish word for tea) – a rich and creamy
blend of honey, cream and spices – is served, as well as frozen
drinks. The menu
includes many sugar-free offerings.
The
café carries 90 kinds of wine, a small selection according to Jon
Steffens. “Our wines are affordable but good at $8 to $20 per
bottle. We want
people to get in the habit of picking up a bottle of wine on a
weekly basis to drink with their meals.”
At these prices, he feels, people can afford to buy and try
different wines on a regular basis.
Wines are imported from all over the world – South
Africa, Chile, Italy, France, etc.
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The
café has a computerized, interactive wine guide where patrons can
research wines from different countries to find out what kind of
wine would be best for a particular meal.
“There is a ton of information there,” said Jon
Steffens.
European
biers are available that will appeal to bier lovers with and
without trained palettes. The
owners will concentrate their selections of biers on micro brews.
In the early years of Lincoln, the 100 block of Sangamon
Street was known as “Dutch row,” since the owners of that
block were of German nationality.
Although the makeup of the block may have changed, the
flavors of the German pubs have returned.
Patrons
can purchase baskets made to order, filled with wines, coffees,
biers and with their respective accoutrements for any occasion.
Wine racks, bottle openers and host of other items are also
available to help complete the experience.
[Jon (left) and Jason (right)
Steffens sit outside their Grapes and Grounds cafe on Sangamon
Street.]
The
Steffenses have purchased most of the property on the 100 block of
Sangamon Street, from 121 Sangamon St., the location of Eckert’s
Fine Dining, to 129 Sangamon, where the Pink Shutter is housed.
Some of their other downtown properties include a building
at 412 Pulaski, across the street from the Vintage Fare
restaurant, and properties at 519 and 521 Broadway St., the
locations of Action Rental and Sorrento’s restaurant.
[Kym
Ammons-Scott]
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