It was a happy morning all around as friends and interested parties gathered for the opening celebration of Suffield Center’s new attraction, Cafe Barista. The European-themed coffee shop had opened “softly” a few weeks before, and some folks had already enjoyed the delicious gelato and a limited number of other menu items. Now, on April 8, just about everything planned was available, and patrons were happily tasting the special triangular sandwiches set on a double table in the center of the dining room, along with the Italian pastries and other specialties. A few patrons, not there for the party, were attending to business on their laptops with their choice of beverage at hand.
With both their hands on the scissors, proprietors Ajay and Shalu Malhotra cut the ribbon for the ceremonial opening of Cafe Barista, the new coffee shop in the Webster Bank building in Suffield Center. First Selectman Colin Moll stands at the left, Rep.Tami Zawistowski at the right.
But as the scheduled noon-hour ceremony approached, the visitors from the North Central Chamber of Commerce, along with Suffield officials and others, followed proprietors Shalu and Ajay Malhotra through the double door onto the terrace cut into the slope next to the North Main Street sidewalk.
After welcoming words from Suffield Economic Development Director Bill Hawkins, First Selectman Colin Moll, Rep. Tami Zawistowski and others, proprietor Malhotra told how his European and South American travels had led to the plan for providing a European-style coffee shop in Suffield. Then the traditional ribbon was strung across the doorway, and Ajay and Shalu together cut the ribbon.