Tim Garcia is busy behind the counter of the Village Blend, which opens in October in the Sloatsburg village center just off Route 17 at the Commuter Lot. The coffee cafe is part partnership between Barbara Berntsen, Nicole Scanlon and Cindy Garcia.
Note: The Village Blend will soft open through October while staff learns the restaurant ropes and product comes online. Patience, understanding and continued support are appreciated.
It takes time and taste testing to get the ingredients right. Sloatsburgers over the last few years have engaged in improving the Village, from supporting local businesses and events to getting involved on boards and committees. The idea of a walkable village center with bustling businesses is coming to life.
Sloatsburger Tom Scanlon, with Sloatsburg’s All American Drywall, was pleased with the happy accident of his new textured concrete floors at the Village Blend. The blond swirls set amid a chocolate base looks very much like an inviting cappucino — the perfect look for a coffee cafe.
The latest entry is about to come online. The Village Blend celebrates a soft opening on Saturday, October 6, with the idea of rolling out products and coffee cafe hours in throughout the season.
Tucked away on the edge of the Commuter Parking Lot just off Route 17, the Village Blend will offers coffee, ice cream, baked goods and other bites to eat. The eatery is housed in a building that is part of a complex of space owned by Barbara Berntsen, a local businesswoman and advocate of all things Sloatsburg. A former Village Trustee and recent President of the Friends of Harmony Hall, Berntsen’s guiding hand has also been steering the revival of the Sloatsburg Chamber of Commerce.
Barbara Berntsen has been hard at work helping to revitalize Sloatsburg’s village center. The Village Blend is housed in her complex of buildings along Route 17 that are home to Rococo’s Salon and her own powerhouse company All American Drywall that she operates with daughter and partner Nicole Scanlon. Berntsen has been a driving force in the success of Harmony Hall and helps steer the team leading the nascent Sloatsburg Chamber — she’s bet big on Sloatsburg’s future.
Saturday’s opening will allow the Village Blend to perk up its coffee makers, work the register and get a feel for the future. Village Blend will start keeping early hours in October to serve morning commuter traffic — tentative hours will be set at 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for now, said co-proprietor Cindy Sass Garcia. Sass Garcia said that once the Village Blend gets into its groove, more products will come online. The coffee cafe anticipates a more grander opening party sometime in November.
The Village Blend is a co-operative venture between Barbara Berntsen, daughter and partner Nicole Scanlon and Cindy Garcia — Berntsen and Scanlon bring the business sense and Sass Garcia the design flair. The excitement of next door’s Valley Rock Inn & Mountain Club inspired the trio, who had one of those “what if” moments while attending an event.
The renovated building along Route 17 in Sloatsburg that helped kick off Sloatsburg’s downtown revitalization effort — the building now houses Rococo’s Salon and Barbara Berntsen’s & Nicole’s Scanlon’s America Drywall business.
The coffee cafe will be a perfect complement to the cluster of new businesses in the village center, especially as it sits adjacent to the Commuter Lot, where visitors to the area are beginning to cruise to see what Sloatsburg has to offer. A clean, well-lighted coffee cafe, complete with a welcoming walkway is a great inducement to stop and wander around. The Seven Lakes Station tap house is just around the corner. And Characters Restaurant & Bar right down the street.
Berntsen and family have invested in building out a burgeoning pedestrian corridor that connects the Commuter Lot to Route 17. The recently paved Village Walk has new stone pavers , landscaping and is poised to improve considerably as it’s sandwiched between Berntsen’s and Michael Bruno’s properties — both have shown they are willing to make significant investments and bet on Sloatsburg.
Show our support for local businesses and visit the Village Blend and other local establishments.
