Sitting here in the loft of our cabin looking at the reports of the snowstorm that’s about to hit us up here in the Blue Ridge. The coffee is excellent, the house is quiet, and I realized that our customers might want a report of what’s new in Downtown Little Switzerland and the Switzerland Café.
Last summer, as many of you know, I had a bout with Endometrial Cancer. Everything is fine now but cancer has a way of making you think about your time on this earth and I knew I had to re-adjust the trajectory of my life. I love my work at the café. But it is quite physical & very demanding. Chef Lora, in the meantime has developed an allergy called “Alpha Gal” from a tick bite she experienced a few years ago. She cannot eat or even taste any mammal products. That leaves out all meat, (which we serve) as well as all cheese and all mammal milk. She can no longer taste a good portion of her café menu and for a chef, well that’s not a good thing. So, we began a search for someone to take over and we found that person already working in our Café kitchen. Her name is Samantha (Sam) Gilley.
Samantha Comes from a hospitality background and is super excited about running the ship in 2022. She is joined by her husband Billy who will be handing the front of the house. Sam says she has planned no major changes to the menu and we have given her the full list of recipes and methods, policies & procedures to assist her going forward.
The Café serves almost 50,000 customers each summer. It is not a 5 star restaurant but the challenges of serving fresh and innovative food every day for 7 months out of the year in a place like Western North Carolina are great. We have lost so many good families here that have moved to the cities for the opportunity that we no longer offer here. Our workforce is now somewhat limited and just as with any restaurant during COVID times, hiring is a challenge.
So please, this March when you come by, be sure to welcome Sam & Billy & let them know their hard work is appreciated. No act of kindness is ever wasted. We love our loyal customers & hope to see you there this year. We’ll be enjoying lunch at table 3, just like the rest of you.