Rich Halstead, co-founder of Valparaiso's Cornucopia Coffee Company, is as proud of the ambience of his business as he is about its culinary and music offerings.

"There's just a comfortable, cozy, warm feel here," he said. "People have told us that it's a very comfortable and classic setting. The people seem to really like that."  

Celebrating their five-month anniversary on Tuesday, Halstead and his wife and fellow Cornucopia co-founder, Wendy Halstead, purchased the building that houses their coffee shop and music venue in Valparaiso at 201 E. Lincolnway six years ago.

The building was the former home of Gratz Piano, which now sells and services pianos and clocks in Valparaiso at 704 N. Silhavy.

Upon purchasing the property, The Halsteads, who reside in Valparaiso, used the space for an antique store and refinishing and restoration business.  

The Halsteads were bitten by the marriage of coffee and music bug a few years prior; in 2001 the couple made their way to Seattle to attend a benefit concert featuring performances by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Dave Matthews and the Blind Boys of Alabama and spending a few days in the unofficial coffee capital of America.

In 2008, the Halsteads closed up their antique and refinishing business and began what would become a 14-month renovation of their 2,500-plus-square-foot property. One particular touch they included in their remodeling was the inclusion of six decade old maple flooring that was previously used on Notre Dame University's basketball court.

When the economy began slowing down in late 2008, the Halsteads had no plans to change their plans.

"We studied the demographics and studied the other shops that were within the market, and we felt that maybe we could fill a niche that had been missing," Rich Halstead said. "We just felt that this was something that we could succeed at."

"We were so far along with (the renovation) once the economy went south that we figured we might as well go for it," Wendy Halstead added.

Cornucopia Coffee Company opened its doors for the first time on Sept. 9, 2009.

It offers a wide variety of coffees, teas, espressos and iced drinks ranging from $1.60 per cup to past the $4 mark. On the culinary end, Cornucopia offers a myriad of breakfast and lunch sandwiches along with soups and salads.  

"The sandwiches had to be, for the most part, healthy," Wendy Halstead said. "That's my goal -- for them to taste great and to be healthy."

Less than two months after opening their doors, Cornucopia hosted the first of what has since become regular Thursday night open mic nights, where aspiring singers and musicians showcase their talents for free in 15 to 20 minute sets.  

"We're both big fans of music and thought this would present us with the opportunity to do some things with music," Rich Halstead said. "It's a large enough space and we wanted that with the intention of developing some kind of venue for acoustic music and hosting open mic nights and local and regional talent."

Songwriter and performer Jonathan "J.P." Parker, who is slated to perform at Cornucopia at 8 p.m. Friday and has also played on several occasions at their open mic nights, has seen his share of coffeehouses around the world. In the last several years, the Valparaiso-based performer toured the globe as the stage manager for the Denver-founded rock band The Fray and has also seen the world in touring capacities with Wilco and Liz Phair.

Parker said he was immediately taken with what Cornucopia had to offer both as a musician and as a patron.

"The people, the location and the ambiance are the three things that drew me in," Parker said. "I love that (performance) room, its natural light, and they have a sound system that's perfect for the room. It's a real good sounding room. It's definitely a listening room."

The Thursday open mic nights, which kicks off at 8 p.m., and selected paid and free performances such as what Cornucopia is offering this week is what Rich Halstead hopes will become commonplace at his venue in the near future.

"Our initial plans were to have music here on a regular basis on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and that is still the ultimate goal," he said. "We'd like to have good local, regional and national people (perform) here regularly."

"They're planning to bring in a wide variety of artists," Parker added. "I think that the future of that place looks great."

In addition to Parker's Friday performance, Florida-based Americana artist Kevin Scott Joiner is scheduled to perform at Cornucopia at 8 p.m. Saturday

Cornucopia Coffee Company is open 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

FYI: (219) 477-1000 or CORNUCOPIACOFFEE.NET; Cornucopia Coffee Company can also be found on Facebook.

 

Jonathan "J.P." Parker, 8 p.m. Friday; Kevin Scott Joiner 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Cornucopia Coffee Company, 201 E. Lincolnway, Valparaiso

COST: Free

FYI: (219) 477-1000 or CORNUCOPIACOFFEE.NET