Having owned and operated some of West Chester’s most popular dining establishments over the years, Andrew Patten is set to bring The Original Spence Cafe back to a new downtown location at 131 N. High St., across from The Hotel Warner. The restaurant will be opening its doors this month.
Spence Cafe will re-emerge as an inspired, modern version of its original Gay St. station as a BYOB restaurant in the space originally occupied by the sweet and tasty luncheonette The Three Little Pigs. Patten’s BYOB will offer lunch Monday through Friday and dinner Wednesday through Saturday “at first,” he says. He plans to expand hours and introduce a brunch menu over the course of the next year or two.
Points Along a Path
Patten has been a near constant presence in the culinary scene of West Chester over the past 20 years. He grew the original Spence Cafe into a wildly popular downtown destination, then opened the delicious Butterfish BYOB, both of which he ran simultaneously for some time. After selling them he shifted his focus to smaller projects and private catering, an experience that lasted a few years and invariably enhanced his skill and precision. It wasn’t until a large S. High St. space opened when Avalon Restaurant relocated that he made a decided return to restaurant ownership.
Patten and a partner opened Spence 312 in 2014 on S. High Street. with a vision of a reimagined Spence Cafe, which he describes as “great for two years,” before a change in partnership created rifts in the course. Just as Patten found himself set adrift from his original aim, he suddenly heard from his friend Kim Stack, longtime owner of The Three Little Pigs, with whom he’d gotten to know while they shared an alley behind their N. High and E. Gay St. locations. She was looking for someone to step in and fill her newly vacant restaurant space at 131 N. High Street. And so on October 15, 2016, Patten signed the lease.
“I feel like I’m back in my own neighborhood,” he says, now once again just half a block’s distance from the very center of downtown West Chester. And though it’s the same neighborhood, a lot of changes have been underway in this particular neck of the woods.
The New Hot Spot
The two blocks north of the Gay & High St. intersection have seen a recent burgeoning of cultural and hospitality enterprises. The Hotel Warner, which opened in 2012, unfurled its Marquee Bar & Lounge earlier this year, while the Uptown! Entertainment Alliance is slated to debut the eagerly anticipated Knauer Theater for the Performing Arts in December 2016. They join the ever-evolving Chester County Historical Society, Oscar Lasko YMCA as well as The Resident Theater Company and the West Chester Studio for Performing Arts, all located on the 100 and 200 blocks of N. High St.
Collaboration between Patten, an approved caterer, and his neighbors is already underway with catering orders from the CCHS in the books and excitement building on all sides. He looks forward to hosting pre-theater dinners. Nicole Scimone, launch director of Uptown! Entertainment Alliance, says, “We are very excited to welcome Spence Cafe to the neighborhood.” Patten views the Marquee Bar & Lounge as a spot for his own patrons to meet ahead of dinner for cocktails, and he anticipates participation in the many private events and weddings that descend upon this block every week.
The opportunity to see live shows; catch a drink; visit a museum; host private, corporate and cultural events; and dine merrily within a two-block span is a new and distinct offering within West Chester. Malcolm Johnstone, director of the West Chester Business Improvement District, shares in the anticipation and has extended his support: “Andrew Patten is bringing a fine dining eatery into an expanding cultural area of the downtown. Spence Cafe will serve hotel guests, theater audience and museum visitors. We look forward to having his wonderful menu items back in downtown.”
On the Menu
Spence Cafe will be offering New American lunch and dinner menus that specialize in fresh fish and locally sourced ingredients and that hold a focus on healthy options.
For lunch, customers can expect soups, salad and sandwiches in the tradition of Three Little Pigs but with an emphasis on wholesome, quick-serve offerings. There will be plenty of low-carb/high-protein items, gluten-free and vegetarian options, as well as a chili and a grain bowl of the day. There will also be a Grab & Go counter with pre-made sandwiches, soups and West Chester’s own Golden Valley Coffee for those on the go or fresh from a workout at the YMCA, a mere half block away.
Dinners will be seasonal with 6–8 entrees changing from week to week, depending on what’s fresh. Patten plans to continue the Spence Cafe tradition of serving mouthwatering seafood dishes as a focal point, such as a savory grouper filet over Mediterranean quinoa with mixed sauteed vegetables. The winter menus will feature entrees like pan-roasted duck breast with butternut squash puree, shaved brussels sprouts and maple demi glacé.
Diners are encouraged to bring along the wine and spirits of their choosing.
Tapping Roots
Patten is excited to reconnect not only to his old stomping grounds but with many people that he’s worked with over the years, most notably chef Blaise Labik. “He and I will be doing all the cooking,” Patten says. Labik, who worked at the original Spence Cafe, had then gone on to help open Side Bar & Restaurant, where he’d been a longstanding chef until last month. His talent in creating healthy, modern menus with progressive takes on classic fare sits well with the objectives of the new Spence Cafe.
As for aesthetics, Patten has turned to Kristen DelVescovo, designer and owner of textile design studio Colette and Blue in West Chester. The new Spence Cafe floor plan is relatively expansive with a full, open dining room up front connecting to a smaller room with a fireplace, which then leads to a sizeable outdoor terrace through a wall of French doors. Kristen has pulled it all together with a fresh and refined design plan.
DelVescovo, who also worked at the original Spence Cafe and designed Jaco Juice & Taco Bar, which she co-owns, says she thinks they’ve designed “a romantic place for dinner” that’s also “earthy, warm in feeling and comfortable.” She chose a palette of soft neutrals, blue-greys and browns for the walls and furniture and a crisp white to showcase the classic West Chester architectural trim features and high ceilings.
Along with Seth Cavallari of Brandywine Woodworks, she has installed a mixed wood wall, painted and assembled by hand, and a live-edge wood fireplace mantle, both of which are punctuated with succulents from TWIG Gardens, who also provided terrariums for each and every table. She chose minimal hairpin legged chairs, allowing the honey-colored wood floors of the main dining room to flow underneath and a muted yet ornate damask wallpaper to accent the fireplace, which contrasts perfectly with the rustic slate floors in the back dining room. Strung bulb lights suspended above the outdoor patio give it a magical feel as it awaits warm weather use.
Repurposed and hand-painted window panes by DelVescovo and framed envelopes with incredible illustrations by Dennis Haggerty, who mailed them to Patten during his many travels, will serve as some of the one-of-a-kind art on the restaurant walls.
Better Than Ever
As DelVescovo points out, chef-owner driven menus, where the owner personally designs and then executes the menu him/herself, are increasingly rare. In West Chester, Patten joins a handful of others operating this way, all producing dishes at an exceptional level. It’s a fine time for dining in West Chester and The Original Spence Cafe is poised to contribute greatly to its thriving restaurant scene.
The Original Spence Cafe began hosting a series of private functions and jazz dinners on November 14. A soft opening is planned for the week of Thanksgiving. The Original Spence Cafe will fully open its doors with a true opening on Monday, November 28.
Of the collaboration with those around him, the kismet of finding such an ideal location at the right time and the anticipation of Spence Cafe’s return to downtown West Chester, Patten puts it simply, “We’re excited.”
Look for The Original Spence Cafe, coming November 28 at 131 N. High St. in West Chester; phone: (610) 918-1272.
- Photos, top to bottom: Leigh Green, TWIG, Leigh Green, TWIG, Natalie Patten, Kristen Delvescovo
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