Grandma's Kitchen - A Rural Vegan Small Business

Update: 

Thank you so much everyone!! Thanks to all of your generosity, we were able to finish 2023 at $0! 

Update:

Hi everyone! Our prior Go Fund Me campaign for our little cafe, Grandma's Kitchen, located in Montour Falls, NY, was able to raise $1,058 of our $48,087.60 goal. That money plus all of our efforts for the year have left us the closest we have been so far to breaking even for the year! We are currently $4,065.46 short of ending our 3rd season at $0!

If you're able to donate any amount through this updated campaign, purchase tickets to an upcoming event, or order a gift card for an upcoming Christmas gift, your support would be SO appreciated.

This year, we were able to operate on a Drop-In basis from April through August. Beginning in September, we started offering Special Events only. The Special Events have worked well for us with many of them selling out. Special Events allow us to concentrate our efforts into occasions when we know guests are coming rather than investing our resources into days when no one may come to the cafe.

We have hosted some events which we have offered in the past, such as Tea Parties, Thanksgiving, Celebrate the Season, and Cookies, Carols, & Lights. We have also hosted new events including Sunday Suppers, a Spooky Halloween Prix Fixe, a Pay What You Will dinner, and Junior Chefs. We provided catering to 2 weddings and 2 bridal showers and also hosted 2 Montour Falls Small Business Owner events. In 2024, we plan to offer a Valentine's Day Prix Fixe, a St. Patrick's Day Prix Fixe, a New Year Brunch, and more. We also plan to open the Airbnb room at the back of our cafe. Some more construction must first be completed and a permit must be received in order for it to open. Our Beer, Wine, and Cider license have proven to be popular this year and our outdoor dining area has proven to be a customer FAVORITE!

This year, one big change is that Mike and Casey did not need to put money into Grandma's Kitchen from their other jobs! Through our efforts at the cafe, Grandma's Kitchen was able to generate enough money to pay its own bills and is now just $4,065.46 short! Mike and Casey still did not receive compensation for their work at the cafe and instead work other full- and part-time jobs in order to support their family.

In 2024, tentative plans include offering Special Events through the winter and spring and then in July switching to a schedule of Special Events on select Fridays and Drop-In Hours most Saturdays and Sundays through the Fall then switching back to a schedule of Special Events only through the winter and spring months. We hope that you will join us!

Prior Campaign Description (parts in italics are no longer happening or were unable to happen this year):

Hi everyone! My name is Casey Easterling and my partner's name is Mike Easterling. Together, we own and operate a vegan cafe, bakery, special event space, and catering establishment in rural Upstate New York called Grandma's Kitchen. Grandma's Kitchen is located in Montour Falls, which is the southern gateway to the Finger Lakes region of New York. Montour Falls is home to the beautiful Shequaga Falls, which is a short walk from the cafe. Our website is www.grandmaskitchenmontourfalls.com. On Instagram and Facebook, we can be found at grandmaskitchenmontourfalls.

We are currently in our third operating season. During our time in business, we have bootstrapped all investments to date including purchasing a small property built in 1881 to house the business, all construction costs to renovate the space including building a commercial kitchen, indoor and outdoor dining areas, an ADA bathroom and ramp, all equipment, furnishing, supplies, permits, licenses, and insurance.

Prior to opening Grandma's Kitchen, Casey and Mike lived in New York City. Casey was a teacher for 16 years specializing in literacy and Mike was an operations manager at Metropolitan Community Church of New York. Mike continues to work at Metropolitan Community Church of New York in a blended capacity and Casey now has a private literacy tutoring practice called I Love Phonics Tutoring (www.ilovephonicstutoring.com).

Grandma's Kitchen's slogan is "Tastes like Grandma's, only vegan." Grandma's Kitchen is inspired by Casey's two Grandmas, Leila Jenkins and Marge Kellar. Casey grew up cooking with her grandmas and loves and misses them dearly. Casey and Mike wanted to honor these wonderful women by creating a cafe that serves veganized versions of their favorite recipes along with other family favorites.

Grandma's Kitchen opened in October 2021 while COVID restrictions were still in place in the area. The cafe now operates on a part time and seasonal basis in order to capitalize on tourism season, which is a top economic factor in the area. At this time, Grandma's Kitchen operates on Thursdays and Fridays for dinner and Saturdays for brunch and lunch from mid-April through mid-December. Special events take place on Sundays and catering and private events can take place any day of the week. 

Grandma's Kitchen is community focused. There is a Kindness Wall in the cafe where guests are invited to purchase any menu item, add it to the wall with a kind message, and then anyone else can come and take the offering from the wall and enjoy a free treat! Grandma's Kitchen hosts free Pictionary events where the community is invited to enjoy a free game night and a selection of free refreshments. Grandma's Kitchen hosted a free Small Business Owners of Montour Falls meetup event and plans to host another one in the warmer months. Grandma's Kitchen hosts a free Christmas event for the community featuring a selection of Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, and hot cider and then attendees go caroling along Main Street in Montour Falls. Grandma's Kitchen donates to community fundraisers including a local VegFest, the village's library, the county's Office of Aging, and Farm Sanctuary. Grandma's Kitchen also offers other low cost events for the community including this year's Christmas in July celebration featuring a picnic lunch and a visit from Santa!

Grandma's Kitchen also brings paid vegan events to our local area, which has a higher than would be expected vegan population due to the proximity to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen. Paid events include Tea Parties, Thanksgiving Dinner, a Christmas celebration called Celebrate the Season featuring a five course dinner and live music, and Junior Chefs. Our Junior Chef Day Camp in April featured an opportunity for 10 local children between the ages of 6 and 11 to prepare a five course vegan dinner and serve it to their families. Grandma's Kitchen hosts private events at the cafe, such as birthday parties and bridal showers and provides catering in the local community.

Additionally during regular cafe service, Grandma's Kitchen offers a friendly, homey environment where visitors and locals can feel comfortable coming for brunch, lunch, dinner, or dessert. Guests frequently give comments thanking Grandma's Kitchen for being here and bringing a delicious vegan option to the area. Grandma's Kitchen fortunately does not only appeal to vegans though. The food is delicious and comforting and truly tastes just like you would expect from your grandma's kitchen, whether she's vegan or not! New this season, Grandma's Kitchen is offering delivery within 15 miles of the cafe in an area where limited food delivery is available and shared drivers are unavailable. Grandma's Kitchen is employing a driver on Thursdays (for now) to provide delivery service to customers.

Mike and Casey are all in on Grandma's Kitchen. They have invested all of personal savings, Casey's retirement savings, their credit card availability, and loan proceeds into getting the business going. Mike and Casey also contribute money from their other jobs to Grandma's Kitchen each month in order for it to be able to continue to operate.

Mike and Casey believe strongly that they have built something really special at Grandma's Kitchen. Guests come and enjoy fun events, special occasions, holidays, and their daily life in a friendly and comfortable fully vegan establishment. The outdoor dining area opened this season and provides a covered deck as well as open picnic tables where guests can gather. Also this season, Mike and Casey have secured a Beer, Wine, and Cider license. They look forward to guests enjoying a drink in the summer sun while listening to live music this year.

Operating a small business anywhere has its challenges. It is a tremendous amount of work and a large investment of love, energy, and resources. Operating a small vegan business in a rural setting has additional challenges as those who are not vegan learn through word of mouth or from attending an event that the food is actually delicious, comfortable, and familiar rather than something unknown. Grandma's Kitchen encountered a couple of special challenges this year which have contributed to making the financial aspect of the business even more challenging than is typically the case. Mike and Casey intend to open an Airbnb room at the back of the cafe in order to help generate more income to sustain the cafe. To this end, they hired a local contractor to build out the back room, which was previously a wood working studio as the property housed the Falls Woodcraft Gift Shop for 36 years prior to becoming Grandma's Kitchen. The bathroom built by the contractor turned out to have an extreme number of code violations and needed to be gutted by another contractor and rebuilt. That project went over budget by $7,000. Additionally, in order to secure the Beer, Wine, and Cider license, Mike and Casey needed to relocate their exterior staircase by 4 feet and install another exit door. This was another unexpected $7,000 expense. Between the two unexpected expenses, Mike and Casey needed to come up with $14,000 in addition to the usual costs of operating the vegan cafe and bakery, rebuilding the bathroom, building a fence also in accordance with requirements to obtain the Beer, Wine, and Cider license, and the outdoor dining area. 

Mike and Casey do not receive compensation for their full time work at Grandma's Kitchen. They do employ part time seasonal staff to assist with operations though and those individuals are paid a living wage plus tips. To date, all money earned at Grandma's Kitchen has been reinvested in the business. In 2022, Grandma's Kitchen earned $31,594.07. In 2021, the first year of operation, Grandma's Kitchen earned $22,346.47. With current levels of staff factored in and no compensation for Mike and Casey, it costs $48,087.60 to operate Grandma's Kitchen for one year.

If one year's worth of operating expenses could be raised, it would help tremendously to alleviate the pressure on Mike and Casey, who desire immensely to focus on growing the current business, catering more events, hosting more private and special events, and securing wholesale accounts thereby ensuring the future profitability of Grandam's Kitchen and hopefully growing to include other local vegan concepts.

Any amount raised would mean so much to Mike and Casey along with their two kids, Noel and Emry. Any money raised will go toward the year's operating expenses allowing proceeds from the cafe's daily operations to begin to repay the money invested in creating the space. In time, this will allow Mike and Casey to begin to receive a pay from owning and operating the vegan cafe, bakery, event space, and catering establishment. In time, it will also permit them to open other vegan establishments in Montour Falls, New York.

Thank you for reading! Thank you for considering offering your support to our small business! If you happen to be in the Finger Lakes region of New York, please stop by Grandma's Kitchen to say hi and grab a bite to eat! Thank you everyone!