Grey Squirrel Manor Brings Colorful Coffee Culture To Windsor's Town Greene

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Visitors to the Town Green coffee scene are finding a different atmosphere inside Grey Squirrel Manor, the café that replaced longtime local staple Café Noto earlier this year.

The new owners moved onto the square in March with a business centered on specialty coffee, hospitality, and local collaboration.

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“We want people to remember how they felt here,” manager Jimmy Montenegro said at the café. “It’s more than just the product.”

Montenegro, who grew up in Windsor, said the café’s concept mixes storytelling with community identity. Before Windsor built its Town Green, the area was filled with oak trees and squirrels — inspiration for the shop’s whimsical “Grey Squirrel” mythology.

“The squirrels travel through portals between Windsor, England, and Windsor, California,” Montenegro said. “They created a place where people could come together and experience magic.”

Behind the playful branding (and handling like the toilet paper) is a hyper-niche coffee operation. “We wanted people who eat, breathe, and live coffee,” Montenegro said.

The owners, Donald Osborne and Stephanie Ahmad, branched out from their respective careers — Osborne in hotel hospitality and Ahmad in law — to open Grey Squirrel.

They are both from Windsor and gravitated to the Town Greene when they decided to open a café of their own after years as devoted coffee lovers.

The café also built its business model on being a storefront for small, local cottage businesses that don’t have physical locations of their own and might otherwise be invisible.

Coffee beans are roasted in Santa Rosa. Syrups, merchandise, embroidery, and chocolates come from Sonoma County businesses. Pastries arrive from local bakeries including Lorena’s and Burton’s, while Volo Chocolate supplies the café’s mochas and retail chocolate bars.

Hello, Goodbye, Hello

The café arrives as Windsor continues transforming from a once-rural Sonoma County town into a community with a growing food and beverage scene focused on the Town Green.

The Grey Squirrel replaced Cafe Noto, a longtime fixture on the plaza, known for its reliable wifi, neighborhood regulars, community gatherings, and study groups.

The decision not to renew Noto's lease created a sense of dread and mourning among regulars. "It's the last cafe here," a neighbor said just days before the January closing.

Grey Squirrel installed new furniture and fixtures for a sort of Portland-meets-Alice In Wonderland ambiance. They also installed Windsor-branded merchandise and, beginning Wednesday, Grey Squirrel versions. They also stocked heavily on sprinkles.

Osborne said the cafe is tapping into a side of Windsor that remains family-focused even as the town grows and develops. “It’s super incredible," he said. "We're Just having a lot of fun."

The study groups, walkers, shoppers, and business meetings have reconvened. “We’ve needed it,” a customer, Karen Alves, said. “I was driving to Healdsburg for coffee before this.”

Alves, who said she has lived in Windsor since 1966, described Grey Squirrel Manor as a major upgrade from the town’s previous coffee options.

Alves said she was referring to the café’s drink quality, pastries, and community partnerships, especially its willingness to collaborate with neighboring businesses instead of treating them as competitors.

“I love that they don’t think this is competition,” she said. “It’s a community thing.”

One of Alves’ favorite drinks is the café’s “Pink Squirrel,” a beet-based specialty beverage made with house-made beet syrup.“It just feels healthier,” she said.

Related: Favorite Cafe Closes After 23 Years On The Town Green