Grandma, 92, inspires Bev’s Café at former Christian's in Kennebunk: Here's what to expect

KENNEBUNK, Maine — Growing up in New York, Annie Callan and her family always spoke the same four magic words when they knew they were in for a delicious meal.

“We’re going to Bev’s.”

Now, here in Maine, people are going to be saying those words, as well, when Callan and Nathan Norris open Bev’s Cafe & Market in Kennebunk in June.

Bev is Callan’s grandmother, who is going strong at age 92 back in New York. She’s a “pretty feisty little lady,” according to her granddaughter.

“She taught me how to bake and really instilled in me a love of food and feeding people,” Callan said. “I have a very large family ... so my grandmother was always the big cook. We’d have big Christmases and Thanksgivings at her house.”

Callan and Norris have been feeding people their entire professional lives. Now the couple is going to be doing so in the space formerly occupied by Christian’s Café and Eatery at 41 Main St. They bought the spot weeks ago.

While Callan is a New York native, Norris hails from Pennsylvania. Though both East Coasters grew up in nearby states, they met on the West Coast as coworkers at a restaurant in San Francisco. They knew when they decided to move back east that they would move to Maine. Callan has family in the state and has gotten to know the area over the years.

The couple moved to Maine in October and now lives in Brunswick. Owning their own eatery has been a longtime goal for them – and they knew they found their place when they discovered the space at Christian’s was for sale.

“We felt like we hit the jackpot,” Callan said.

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All-American fare for breakfast and lunch on the menu

Once it opens, Bev’s Café will serve breakfast and lunch and, at first, will be open five days a week, Thursdays through Mondays, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The café will offer all-American fare, according to Norris.

Breakfast will include assorted sandwiches, from burritos to eggs, cheese and proteins wedged between homemade biscuits, as well as oatmeal, yogurt and, of course, coffee and tea. Portland-based Tandem Coffee Roasters will provide the joe, and London-based Rare Tea Company will provide the tea. For lunch, Norris and Callan will offer sandwiches, salads and soups, as well as desserts.

According to Norris, the menu will be a mix of core staples, which customers will be able to count on, and seasonal offerings. Norris and Callan also will improvise day by day, taking stock of the food they have on hand and getting creative.

“We really want to focus on having things be really high quality and accessible,” Norris said. “We also want people to feel comfortable enjoying them.”

Callan said the food will be inspired by her grandmother.

“She really focused on comfort food,” Callan said. “She had recipes that she slightly tweaked for every occasion.”

Her grandmother knew how to make a delicious roast and loved preparing pasta and chili. More than anything, she loved mashed potatoes, Callan said.

“She always made the most mashed potatoes of any family, I think,” she said.

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Bev’s Café readies for grand opening

Currently, the windows at 41 Main St. are covered with paper, as Norris and Callan roll up their sleeves and work to make the place their own. There’s a sign in one of the windows, alerting passersby to keep an eye out for their grand opening in a few weeks.

“We’re in here, doing a lot of work, but it’s mainly aesthetic,” Norris said. “The bones of the structure we want to operate exist here.”

Callan and Norris both said their experience of opening a new business in the community has been a positive one. In particular, they expressed appreciation for the staff at the town hall.

“Kennebunk has been super warm and welcoming about us opening the business,” Callan said. “They have been so helpful in telling us the steps we need to take to get our permitting and licensing.”

Norris said the experience of opening a business in Kennebunk is no doubt different than it might have been if he and Callan chose to stay in California and open their first shop in San Francisco. There, he said, the environment is larger and the bureaucracy is more complex.

“Here, in a smaller town, this is just perfect, you know?” he said. “We don’t have to spend months and months navigating a permitting compliance process.”

Instead, you can walk right into the Kennebunk Town Hall, and “Merton’s there,” Norris said, referring to Town Clerk Merton Brown.

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Callan and Norris said they are expecting to create about seven new local jobs at their café, with positions both in the kitchen, behind the counter, and in the guest area. Those who are interested in working at Bev’s can email Callan at annie.callan@gmail.com or send her a message on Instagram at bevs_cafe.

Of all the customers expected to visit Bev’s when it opens, will Bev herself be one of them?

“She’s really excited,” Callan said. “She keeps talking about it. She hasn’t come out here yet to see it, but she’s trying.”

One thing is certain: what Callan loves about her grandmother is already at the soon-to-open café.

“It makes me happy when I think about people saying, ‘Oh, let’s go to Bev’s for a sandwich’,” Callan said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Bev’s Café & Market takes over Christian’s Cafe in Kennebunk ME