Kitchen Dreaming

As I’ve mentioned, two of my friends owns a coffee shop.  Lately Mona has been complaining a lot about the quality of the store fixtures.  They were old when she bought the place and she’d like to pitch everything and start new.

Friday when we were sitting in the shop sipping coffee and chewing on some good conversation, the freezer emitted a huge sigh and died.  They knew it was coming.  The thing has been suffering death throes for weeks.  Luckily they had already replaced it and there wasn’t much left in the old fella.

Mona cheered when the guys lugged the old freezer out.  Then she said she wished she could find some way to kill the sink.  It is ancient, too small, and too shallow.  She would like a sparkling new, double basin stainless steel sink.  She’s been drooling over utility sinks online.

She also wants to toss out her counter (which is actually two cabinets and a table all jury-rigged together) and buy two matching pieces to put in that spot.  For making sandwiches, she wants a butcher block topped table. Beside it she would like a display case for her pasties that has a spot for her cash register as well.

Mona and I plan to go to the mainland shopping on Wednesday. I was thinking of department stores and fun stuff. Mona wants to go to cabinet shops and furniture stores. At first I didn’t understand why she wanted to go to a furniture store. The coffee shop has a couch and matching armchair. It also has a great little table and chair set inside and three patio table sets on the deck outside.

Mona says the outside furniture needs replaced. She has been studying the furniture at adirondackchairsinc.com. She thinks if she redoes the deck and keeps just one umbrella table and chair set, then puts in a grouping of Adirondack chairs and side tables, more folks might sit on the deck to sip their coffee and read the paper — which would actually be great visual advertisement for the shop.

I told Mona she might as well not worry about the deck. Her coffee is pretty good, but most folks stop by the store to see Mona. If she wants her customers to sit on the deck she’s going to have to be out there, too. Mona says that’ll make it more challenging to run the store.