Bites Nearby: Coriander Cafe and General Store

What do you get when you combine country charm, a cup of coffee, homemade bagels, brotherly love, sweet potato soup, and a dash of special sauce?

The Coriander Country Store and Café.

The latest inhabitant of an historic building in Eastford’s tiny village center, Coriander is the brain-child of Brett Laffert, a formally-trained chef and “country person at heart.” After years of living and cooking in places like Big Sur, Denver and Nantucket, Brett collaborated with his brother, Scott, to buy the Coriander property, renovate it and develop the business concept.  

Coriander has a standing menu of gourmet soups, salads, sandwiches and burgers, all prepared fresh from scratch.

There is also quiche, vegetarian items and daily menu specials such as a roasted pork loin sandwich with apple-raisin chutney and cheddar cheese. Owing to the café’s warm reception from the people in town, the café is tweaking that item to become the signature Eastford sandwich in time for the local Heritage Day celebration June 11.

The Turkey Terrific is among the most popular sandwiches, as is the Southwest Roast Beef and roasted chicken salad. The soups change often and can be unusual. One recent day featured curried sweet potato and plantain soup. Not something you’d expect in a country store.

The Laffert brothers took over the property last September, working night and day for two months straight to remodel the aged structure, install a commercial kitchen and open for business. For at least part of that time, both were still working at the well-known Vanilla Bean Café in Pomfret where Brett was a cook and manager for seven years. Another brother, Jason, has now also joined the operation from Nantucket – all the better to staff Coriander 12 hours a day.

Putting the place together “was a sprint,” Brett says, “and I feel like I’m still sprinting.”

Between customers, he scans the small dining area with its white tables and freshly-painted yellow walls. He points out Scott’s original painting (he has a fine arts degree), their mother’s photos, and the stained-glass work he did himself. The place has a definite family feel – particularly since Brett and Jason live upstairs with a Great Dane and a fat cat, Coriander, the restaurant’s namesake.

The months-old café is already beginning the fill the local need for a good meal, quart of milk and a place to chat (even if you like to chat online, with the café’s free wifi). But there is still more work to be done in fulfilling the brothers’ vision of neighborly comfort, gourmet food and country charm.

With the weather improving, Brett talks of building a front deck on the building to add more seating and better visibility for the café. (Getting the lumber will be easy, at least, since Coriander is directly across the street from Eastford Building Supply, one of only four businesses in the Eastford village center.)

Just as importantly, Coriander’s “bread guy,” David Emigh, expects he will soon have his specially built Le Panyol wood-fired oven parked outside. It is currently on order from a company in Maine. In addition to providing bread for Coriander’s sandwiches, the mobile unit will be put on the farmer’s market circuit, Laffert said.

Coriander currently serves a selection of scones, buns, muffins and artisan breads prepared by Emigh in a small room in the back of the store. Emigh hails originally from New Mexico and teaches geology, astronomy and the history of science at Quinebaug Community College. When he is not making bread he is often seen walking the roads of Windham County – seven and one-half to nine miles a day, he says.

Emigh makes different breads each day – ciabattas, whole wheat, yeasted corn bread and a popular cheese loaf, for example – but he seems particularly proud of his homemade bagels. They impressed the Lafferts so much that they asked him to bake for their store.

“They are not New York bagels,” he insists. “I cannot make New York bagels.” His are “Eastford bagels,” he said. (Like New York bagels, they come in several flavors, including garlic.)

The baker shows up at 6 a.m. each day to have bread ready for sandwiches. He is also experimenting with making his own English muffins to be served with the café’s breakfast sandwich of bacon, egg and cheese.

Coriander offers a variety of Red Barn coffees – an organic, fair-trade and great-tasting brand Brett discovered on a trip to Sturbridge. The cooler features Hosmer Mountain Soda, an Eastern Connecticut favorite.

Coriander also has its own hot sauce, custom blended by Woodstock chef and self-proclaimed “alchemist” Doug Crane. The café stocks several of Crane’s concoctions produced by his company, Dragon’s Blood Elixer. The Coriandor sauce is a maple, roasted apple and chili flavor -- hot, sweet but not too strong.

Coriander, 192 Eastford Road (Route 198), is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and Monday. The café also caters special events. 860-315-7691.