Coffee and Wine Bar in the Works for Hume Avenue

A new coffee shop and wine bar is in the works on Hume Avenue, and the owner is optimistic it will be open for business early next year.

Del Ray residents Connie Desrosiers and her daughter Jackie are ramping up their efforts to open a new restaurant at 106 E. Hume Avenue called Emma P. Hume, or Emma’s for short.

The name is a nod to the 1925 Emma P. Hume subdivision where the property resides.

Desrosiers plans to make a soft opening as a coffee house and then pursue the wine bar element with early evening hours at a later point.

The establishment will have less than 40 total seats, including a few outside.

The seven-year Del ray resident said she had ruminated over her coffee house idea had for some time (she even attended Coffee Fest in Seattle to receive feedback on her business plan) and jumped at the Hume Avenue property last year, seeing a demand for a morning spot near the corner of Commonwealth and Mt. Vernon avenues.

The farmhouse building is zoned for mixed use and Desrosiers began renting out the apartments in the building last winter.    

Local architect Bob Larson, who designed Del Ray Cafe, was hired to develop a working concept plan for Emma’s that Desrosiers says will have some “whimsy, with a nod to Victorian.” The plan includes an addition of about 1,000 square feet.  

Desrosiers will begin the process of seeking approval for a special use permit for Emma’s later this year.

“I’ve got nothing to hide,” she said. “And I love talking things over with the neighbors.”

Desrosiers said her daughter Jackie brings her retail experience to the management end of the business. Jackie and another daughter, Abbie, are both members of local favorites the Irish Breakfast Band.

Abbie may not be directly involved in the business, but Desrosiers said she still has input.

“Abbie just contributes good ideas,” Desrosiers said.

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