Creekside Cafe celebrates 7 family-run years

This month, the owners at Creekside Cafe celebrated seven years in business, which now includes a year during a pandemic. The small, well-loved breakfast and lunch spot survived the past year because of its ability to adapt and its very loyal fan base. The cafe is owned by husband and wife team Cathy Koken and Charlie Stadtlander and Cathy’s daughter, Katy.

A Saturday morning at Creekside Cafe has been a tradition for many in Trumansburg over the past seven years. It’s friends catching up, forks clattering and Stadtlander greeting and serving each table. It used to be freshly cooked meals coming out on white plates, but for the past 10 months, it’s been all takeout.

“It was a hit,” Katy said of their pivot to takeout. “We weren’t expecting it! It was the beginning of summer, and tourists were coming in. There were so many people. Everybody was pent up and excited. We got a boom of business right away, which was great.”

The family closed the business for two months at the beginning of the pandemic last year but reopened just as things in the Finger Lakes were feeling a bit more normal last June. They’ve been offering takeout ever since and are currently open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The cozy space has high ceilings, exposed brick, big windows with sunlight streaming and a big red sign outside exclaiming EAT, but the tables are now gone, and it’s set up for pickup only. Online ordering may be something they continue with in the future.

“It’s in discussion,” Katy said of possibly changing the business model. “I know for Charlie, he loves that sense of community and people coming in and sitting and enjoying. But as things progress with COVID, it might make more sense, businesswise, to just do takeout. We can make more food.”

Cathy chimed in.

“But who knows if it’s going to be like that,” she said. “We don’t know — we’re in limbo.”

While Cathy and Katy work as a team in the kitchen, Stadtlander handles the front of the house. He visited the area from New Jersey 15 years ago after a big life change and never left. His experience was in the construction business, but he’s made a place for himself as the lone server, host and cashier in the tiny restaurant.

“Honestly, it’s all about Charlie,” said longtime loyal customer and T-burg resident Leah Shafer. “He’s got great stories and he’s got the right level of attentiveness. I really count him as a friend at this point because we share stories about having lived in New Jersey, and he’s a great raconteur.”

In addition to great service, the cafe has a mother-daughter pair in the kitchen that also shines. Katy spent the last 12 years working at Bloomer Creek Vineyard in Hector growing grapes and making wine. She started helping in the cafe kitchen as business grew each year and eventually left her winery job to become a third partner in the business.

“I really enjoy flavors and tasting,” Katy said. “I also love gardening and plants. And we can pick and choose whose vegetables we want to use and what fresh ingredients we’re using at a time of year. That’s definitely fun for me.”

Cathy, the head chef of the operation, was the former owner of Cafe Dewitt in Ithaca and also used to manage the Ithaca Farmers Market.

“I spent my whole life wanting to have a business in Trumansburg,” Cathy said. “And this building finally came up for sale and we jumped on it, and luckily, we got it.”

The space had previously functioned as Lawrence Reverby’s law office for more than 20 years, so when they first bought the building, Stadtlander did a lot of renovations. The couple then rented it to Sundrees, a gift and clothing boutique, for a few years before the shop moved down the street and the opportunity to start something new felt right.

“I had been in the food business most of my life,” Cathy said. “Before Cafe Dewitt, I worked on Long Island doing private cooking for people and in a restaurant, so I thought ‘what a great place.’ But it was scary for me to make that jump.”

A distinguishing characteristic of Creekside’s menu is the many local items that are included in each dish. Red Gate Grocer, Hawk Meadow Farm, Silver Queen Farm, Remembrance Farm and Lively Run Dairy are just a few producers they support.

“We have a really strong relationship with Remembrance Farm,” Katy said. “We can get root vegetables all year round and lettuce when they have it. They have such high-quality produce. Their lettuce is beautiful, and they’re reasonably priced.”

The menu has influences from all of Cathy’s years in the food industry, including tacos, burritos, assorted homemade baked goods and, of course, breakfast sandwiches.

“I had a 20-year time span between Cafe Dewitt and here,” Cathy said. “So, when we first started, it was very challenging for me to get back into it, but then suddenly, boom, it all came back and I had a vast array of recipes from way back. I love breakfast sandwiches, so that’s a big part of our menu here.”

All three owners noted that there isn’t one dish that the eatery is famous for and that each of their regular customers seems to stick to a few favorite items.

“I am a big fan of the salad, but I also am known to order the Barton with regularity,” Shafer said. “Everything they make feels like it’s made with care. They truly care whether or not you’re going to enjoy the food. I feel like the food can actually convey that. The local ingredients, the elegance of the recipes, those things make a difference.”

During COVID-19, Shafer missed the cafe so much that she made a gift for the owners. She was looking back through her photos and realized that she had snapped a picture of almost every dish she’d ever had at Creekside and decided to have them made into something special.

“Their presentation is so beautiful,” Shafer said of Creekside’s food. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I just make a little book so I can look at it and they can look at it and just remember the whole Creekside experience?’ It was a labor of love. It made me feel better to make the book, the idea that I could give them a present. They’ve given so much to me.”

Shafer said she’s continued to support the cafe during their trial with takeout, even having friends over to share sandwiches with in her yard, but that she misses the experience of dining in her favorite spot.

“I’m not a very spiritual person,” Shafer said. “But I feel actually blessed by the fact that this magnificent food, these incredibly welcoming people and this beautiful space is something that I have such easy access to.”

Creekside Cafe is located at 4 W. Main St. in Trumansburg. It will be closed this week for rest and renovation and will reopen the weekend of April 2. Find out more information at creeksidecafetburg.com.