A modest little scratch restaurant in the middle of Clermont County has been working overtime to create a welcoming space for casual food lovers and soon-to-be sommeliers. Cafe Amelia co-owner Bryan Westbrook joined Good Day Clermont! to discuss what’s next for this growing business.
The garage art at Cafe Amelia.
Though the property changed hands over the years, Westbrook says some of the original owners still live in the area and frequent the Cafe.
For Westbrook, turning the restaurant into a community hotspot is the guiding star of his passion for service.
“I’ve had many different lives… but I came into the restaurant business about 16 years ago. I worked with this wonderful chef by the name of Kris Tominaga; he’s a James Beard Award-winning chef, and he was all about sourcing locally and knowing your farmers and knowing what your ingredients came with.”
Outside Cafe Amelia.
“Food is only as good as the raw ingredients you bring to it,” Westbrook explained. Today, he continues to build connections across Southwest Ohio to develop his recipes and broaden Cafe Amelia’s menu options. He said that local farmers and purveyors at Findley Market in Cincinnati are essential to his operations.
He announced that the Cafe is collaborating with well-known agriculturalists in Clermont, such as Renee Koerner of Big Fish Farms, to create a ‘new concept’ using her Paddlefish caviar.
Chefs make every item on Cafe Amelia’s menu from scratch. Westbrook said that this standard keeps customers happy and the food distinctly artisan. He told Good Day Clermont! that while many markets throw away perfectly good, over-ripened fruit, he requests it for ingredients, saying it offers bold flavors that keep people coming back.
Amelia, Ohio, is a far way from Westbrook’s previous home in Los Angeles. He recalled that discovering pastrami at Jewish delis in California inspired his modern menu. “I couldn’t open up a restaurant without doing it,” Westbrook said.
Display case in Cafe Amelia.
Cooks dry and smoke the meat. “We use cherrywood for pretty much all of our smoking. It’s about a 10-12 hour process,” Westbrook said. Unlike a typical BBQ brisket, they trim much of the fat and brine the pastrami for five to seven days.
The entire process can take up to two weeks, but the result is well worth the wait.
Westbrook said two of his favorite items on the menu include the Turkey Reuben and the Small-batch Egg Salad, which the chef prepares made-to-order.
Bryan Westbrook and Bob Pautke.
He recently added an artisan chocolate chip cookie to the menu, which took him nearly three years to perfect. Westbrook uses chocolate from the Madrona region of France, sourced from a specific plot of land maintained by expert cultivators. He uses brown butter and lets the mixture age for about 3 days to hydrate the flower and allow flavor and character to develop.
The menu is impressive, but the direction Westbrook has taken the business truly captures the community’s imagination.
Cafe Amelia opened its social patio space over the summer. “Eating outside when you can eat outside is one of my favorite things.” Westbrook mused.
He said 80% of the patio furniture comes from second-hand donations from customers and neighbors. Activities are available for children, and the area creates an overall environment for comfort and safety. Westbrook said he hopes to install new lighting in the area, and perhaps add a fire pit to extend hours.
Currently, the Cafe is only open until 3 p.m. at the latest on weekdays. Renovations to the property allow him to broaden his horizons in terms of guest capacity and operational hours.
“I’m hoping to build a little hub here,” Westbrook said. He noted that people often come to do book clubs at Cafe Amelia, making connections with those they haven’t seen in a while. Westbrook said he wants to offer a space where people don’t feel rushed, and maintained that old-fashioned service still exists.
Pumpkin honey latte at Cafe Amelia.
A new spot called ‘Amelia Social’ is in production at the cafe. Westbrook said that it will be open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and will include a wine bar. As a certified sommelier, he wants to make good wine more accessible to Clermont residents.
Urban Stead Cheese, an internationally renowned monger from Walnut Hills, will be involved in the project. Westbrook also hopes to partner with Amelia Florist and invite winemakers visiting town.
“Sometimes it’s about creating that moment and that memory that you can take away with you for the rest of your life.”
Business has admittedly been a slow roll for Cafe Amelia, having little marketing budget to spend on billboards or TV advertisements. Still, Westbrook feels confident in word of mouth throughout Clermont County. Sharing the success of local businesses can help others find opportunities and little treasures they might otherwise not know exist.
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