New bakery and coffee shop brings community and homemade treats to Newfield

After previously running the Covered Bridge Market & Pizzeria in Newfield with her husband for decades, Amy Heffron has opened her own business that she says will bring coffee, comfort and community to her hometown.  

Morning Moon Coffee and Bakery opened on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 Bridge St. in Newfield. The cafe’s building is a small white house, which used to be one of the Heffrons’ rental properties, nestled between the Newfield covered bridge and the Covered Bridge Market.      

“My family’s always been in the restaurant business,” Heffron said, noting that her grandfather used to own Joe’s Restaurant in Ithaca. “When I worked as a substitute teacher in the [Newfield Central School District], all the teachers were like, ‘There’s no place to go get coffee or breakfast sandwiches.’”

Heffron then had an idea: starting her own bakery and coffee shop. She first asked her husband, Rodney, if he was interested in pursuing the business venture, but he said that he didn’t want to work that early in the morning.

That didn’t stop her from setting up for business, including reimagining the space, buying furniture and thinking of tasty treats to serve.  

“I jumped right on board, because I agreed that we really needed some place like this in the community,” said Heffron’s daughter, Shea, who works as an English teacher at Newfield Middle School. “To go get coffee somewhere in the morning before work is to go completely 10 minutes out of my way and 10 minutes back just to go to Dunkin’ Donuts, and sometimes it would get frustrating if they weren’t taking mobile orders or if the line was long. There wasn’t anywhere local to grab a coffee.”   

Shea Heffron said that she helps manage the cafe’s Facebook page, which already has close to 300 followers, where she posts photos of the sweet treats her mother bakes each day after closing. The cafe serves breakfast sandwiches, croissants, muffins, scones and cookies, as well as homemade hot chocolate, lattes, cappuccinos and iced coffee. Some recent creative offerings have included pecan pumpkin bread, cranberry white chocolate chip muffins, maple walnut cookies and apple fritter bread topped with caramel. Amy Heffron added that she plans to start serving premade sandwiches and salads that people can stop to grab on their way to work.

Along with food, Amy Heffron put plenty of thought into the cafe’s design. The front porch has bright rocking chairs and fall leaves in the windows, while the inside has pink cabinets and antique furniture, as well as flowers decorating every room. The cafe also features a reading room where patrons can donate books and take them out for free, and she noted that the reading room already has more than 30 books on its shelves. Meanwhile, another room at the back of the cafe will take on a “retro” theme.   

“I want people to feel like they’re coming into my house to have coffee and dessert. I just want it to be homey and welcoming, and something I could do by myself where I’m not crazy busy,” Amy Heffron said. “When we were at the Covered Bridge Market, it was nonstop craziness all the time, so it was very stressful to be there. I’m not getting any younger, so at least this is something I could do myself.” 

After being open for less than a month, Heffron said that they’ve seen between 20-30 patrons daily and that the community reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.  

“One sad thing about Newfield is that you often have to go to Ithaca to see people,” said cafe patron Christina Ward, who also serves as the Newfield Central School District Board of Education president. “The Covered Bridge is great, but it’s not a cafe. This place can foster belonging, since we now don’t have to leave town to meet up with our Newfield friends.”

Fellow Newfield resident and cafe patron Lynn Coffey agreed, joking that hearing about the business’ opening was “like the news of the century.”  

“I was shocked by how strong the community in Newfield is, but it feels like there’s not enough businesses to support the community feel,” Coffey said. “For me, the fact that it’s a cafe is perfect because it does feel like a place where you can come and just talk and relax, and it’s a great place to connect with neighbors, especially during the school day.”

“There’s always room for another business in Newfield,” said Rob Jordan, the current owner of the Covered Bridge Market. “There’s no coffee shops in Newfield, so [Amy’s] adding an aspect that we don’t have in town. She can help give people food that they might want in the morning, and I can help give them what they want during lunch and dinner time.”

Morning Moon Coffee and Bakery is open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mondays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Tuesdays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.