Rue 77, a European-inspired cafe and the newest addition to business in downtown Damariscotta, opened on June 28, at 77 Main St.
Owners Roger and Prudence Kiessling, of Bremen, said their vision is to create a community space with a focus on the experience.
“The response has been insane, this has exceeded expectation, people have been so excited,” Roger Kiessling said.
The Kiesslings also own The Kingfisher and The Queen, a vintage and housewares store next door to Rue 77.
Neither of them had run a cafe before, but the idea to open and run their own cafe had been percolating for years, according to the couple. So when a space next to The Kingfisher and The Queen became available to lease, it was an opportunity they had to take.
“We wanted to build something that the community needed,” Roger Kiessling said.
On April 1, the couple signed a lease, and by June 28, after extensive renovation and help from the community and friends, the cafe was ready to go.
To revamp the space, formerly ButterUpCakes Gluten Free Cafe Bakery and Hard Cider Bar, they painted and installed new flooring, a 19-foot marble bar, an espresso machine, new counters, and a gelato cooler.
“The saying goes that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we joke that Rue was,” Prudence Kiessling said about the quick renovation.
Prudence Kiessling said the theme of the cafe was inspired by the old-school glamor of the late 1960s and early 1970s Italy, the Amalfi Coast, Wes Anderson films, and a bit of “understated chic French elegance.”
In addition to a menu of espresso and coffee drinks, Rue 77 offers gelato from Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick, coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon, and pastries and bread from Solo Pane e Pasticceria in Bath.
With fresh materials in hand, the couple and their dedicated staff make buttermilk biscuit breakfast sandwiches like The Amalfi, which comes with chorizo sausage from Broad Arrow Farm in Bristol, egg, cheddar, arugula and pepper jelly.
Lunch includes a variety of premade, grab-and-go sandwiches on baguettes, available in the morning, and including The Capri, made with fresh mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes, arugula and a balsamic glaze. The Paddington, named after a sandwich the couple ate at Paddington Station in London, is made with butter, provolone and ham.
Over the opening weekend, Prudence Kiessling said she saw teenagers eating gelato out front of the store, with their phones down, laughing and engaging with each other. At the same time, a couple sat at the marble bar inside working on the New York Times crossword puzzle, which she felt was representative of the community space she and Roger had envisioned.
“I saw [that and] thought and thought to myself, ‘This is why we did this,’” she said.
The cafe will be open year-round from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, with some possible extended hours coming on Friday and Saturday to serve gelato.
For more information, visit rue77maine.com.
