Farewell to Fernbridge Café

On March 15, Fernbridge Café & Coffee Barn owner
Kimberlynn Wright posted the announcement she’d be closing the restaurant soon.
As the sole owner since buying the spot three years ago, and a server at the
café’s previous incarnation for seven years, she says she wanted to give her
staff and regulars some lead time. “We just don’t want to catch anyone off
guard being open one week and closed the next,” she says. She’s also working on
closing her accounts and getting everything paid off before shutting down. “I
want everyone to have a fair warning about what’s going on.”

Wright says the community response has been heartwarming.
“We had a really nice weekend because everybody was showing their support,” she
says, noting it hasn’t changed her plans to leave the spot she leases and give
someone else a shot.

“We’re still hanging on but were working toward closing because
I’ve been talking to a lot of people in the industry,” says Wright, “and I
heard from one person that I should get out as soon as I can.” Her fellow
restaurant owners, she says, aren’t optimistic about the future. And holding on
for things to get better takes money.

The Fernbridge Café already reduced its hours to Thursday
through Sunday, the days that see the most business, and staff is down to a
tight crew of two cooks and two servers. Wright has also been working nights at
another restaurant and has previously picked up shifts as a casino dealer, both
to supplement her income and to keep the restaurant afloat.

“It was mostly last year that took me out,” says Wright,
noting the price of eggs went from $36 for a case of 15 dozen to around $150. “Everything’s
gone up like crazy.”

Wright expects to close the doors for good somewhere in the
next few weeks and isn’t quite sure what’s next for her. “It’s kind of weird
not to be tied to anything,” she says. What she does know is that she’ll miss
the staff and the regulars, who’ve become part of her life. “I cried about it
several times already,” she says.

And Wright will miss the café itself.

“It’s such a cool space,” she says. “I hope somebody comes
in and puts the money into it to make it work because it’s a really cool
area.” 

This article appears in 10 Foliies Anniversary.