by Richard Uhlhorn
To Order go to: https//applecupcafe.com
Out of the disastrous March 24 fire that damaged one of Chelan’s iconic restaurants, the Apple Cup Café, a new Apple Cup is emerging, albeit in a different location for the time being.
Ryan Peterson and his wife Erin have entered into a rental agreement with the Community Center for a takeout food service. “Seventy percent of this effort is to keep my staff employed,” said Ryan. “The other 30 percent is so I can have my chicken fried steak.”
The Peterson’s hope the new takeout Café will thrive until they are able to rebuild the new Apple Cup Café at its old location on upper Woodin Avenue.
The Peterson’s used the Community Center’s commercial kitchen to conduct a pancake feed for the graduating class at Chelan High School which led to an agreement with the board of directors and Maribel Cruz, the executive director to rent the kitchen for business.
This coming Friday morning, the new Apple Cup will be open for on-line and telephone orders from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. According to Ryan, the menu will be limited, but he is in hopes that his loyal customers and others will take advantage of this new enterprise.
“It’s new for us. We will be doing just takeout from the Center. We will play it by ear.”
Customers will be able to call in or order OnLine, and then pick up their meal on the way to work or eat it outside at some picnic tables. “There will be no service,” said Ryan.
“Our No. 1 priority is customer service. It is going to be interesting,” Ryan added. “We have no expectations going in.” His kitchen staff will provide breakfast and lunch items. “We have plans on introducing some new items when we get up and running.” One new item an Apple Cup Smash Burger. A smash burger is where the meat is smashed on a hot grill searing the outside and locking the flavor and juices inside.
The breakfast menu will have fresh orange juice. “We mostly use Navel oranges, but when they are not available, we switch to Valencia oranges,” said Ryan.
Peterson’s goal is to stay at the Community Center until the new restaurant is open for business.
The Peterson’s, based on advice from contractors who have looked at refurbishing the old building, decided it would be less expensive to level the old and build a new diner. “With all the new codes and regulations, restoring the old building doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
They are already working with an architect in Wenatchee and promise that the new restaurant will retain the diner feel.
“We are hoping to get some work on the new building this fall,” said Ryan.
In the meantime, the new Apple Cup will operate from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. from Thursday through Sunday. To order, call 509-682-5000 or go online at applecupcafe.com.
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