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Angelica Rieck is the owner of a new cafe in Jasper called The Gathering Table. The cafe is scheduled to open April 7.
Photo by Kyle Kuphal
A new cafe called The Gathering Table is scheduled to open at 108 Wall St. W. in Jasper on Monday, April 7.
The cafe will be owned and operated by Angelica Rieck, who will rent the space from the Jasper Development Corporation (JDC). The JDC purchased the property about a year ago and upgraded the space with the goal of bringing a café to Jasper.
Rieck said the cafe will be open seven days a week. To start out, the hours of operation will be Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesdays and Fridays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The menu will include a variety of breakfast options including biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, pancakes, French toast, and hash browns; lunch options including burgers, paninis, salads, patty melts and chicken sandwiches; and a kids menu including popcorn chicken, macaroni and cheese, and grilled cheese. Beverages will include pop, coffee, milk, juice and Lotus, which is a plant-based energy drink.
Rieck said she plans to get a catering license for the business that would allow her to serve food off-site.
She said she will be doing the cooking and serving at the cafe with help from two other part-time employees including her mother, Nichole Rieck, and Michelle Johnson. Rieck said she previously worked at the Stonewall Bar & Grill, Johnson previously worked at the Jasper Mini Mall and Nichole brings organizational skills to the business. Rieck described her mother as her silent partner in the business.
“This has kind of been a dream of both of ours,” Rieck said. “I just kind of took it and ran with it and she’s willing to help and follow.”
Their dream began to take shape as the JDC was updating the building. Rieck said she lives in one of four apartments on the second floor of the building and Erik Baustian with the JDC showed her the space as it was being updated. She and her mom, who had been talking about opening their own business for about five years, expressed interested in the space and “it all just kind of fell into place,” Rieck said.
They looked for names for the business online and settled on The Gathering Table. Rieck said they wanted something welcoming, homey and positive and that seemed to fit. With The Gathering Table scheduled to open in a matter of days, Rieck said they’re excited to get started.
“It’s like a dream come true,” she said. “We’ve wanted to help out the town in some sort of way. We’ve been here for 16 years and always tried or looked for a way to help out the town and this was the option we went with.”
Rieck said she’s originally from Ruthton and her family moved to Jasper 16 years ago because that’s where her dad is from. She’s since started her own family there with her two children, ages 4 and 10.