Excerpts from the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun Newspaper:
Opening café, bakery fulfills longtime dream for MV couple
by Dave Morris · October 15, 2008
The food is fresh and made to order at Fran & Cherie’s Skillet Café & Bakery in Uptown Mount Vernon.
Open since early June, the café is the fulfillment of a longtime dream of owners Fran and Cherie Guillaume.
“I love to cook, and I love to eat,” said Fran, who previously was in the automotive service business for 22 years, including nine years at Lynch Ford in Mount Vernon. “It’s something we always wanted to do.”
A lack of formal training hasn’t stopped the two Cedar Rapids natives from developing a breakfast and lunch menu that’s unique to the area. Specialties include made-to-order omelettes, pastas, potatoes and salads, as well as a variety of sandwiches.
While Fran does most of the cooking, Cherie is the head baker.
Business, so far, has been good.
“It’s going well,” said Cherie, formerly a day-care provider. “We’re busier than we anticipated.”
The owners originally planned the café as a two-person operation, but an influx of temporary residents in Mount Vernon after the flooding in June changed that.
“The biggest surprise was the flood and all the Red Cross people in town,” Cherie said. “Everyone said, ‘Oh, what a nice surprise.’ “
They quickly hired a few employees and currently employ four part-timers.
The Guillaumes describe their operation as something “between a diner and a bistro or café.” Customers order at the counter and can see their food prepared in the open kitchen.
“People can see the food being prepped. They see what’s going on,” said Fran, 42. “It’s fresh. It highlights the made-to-order concept.”
It’s the interaction with their customers that the Guillaumes appreciate.
“Some of our vegetarian items have been inspired by customers,” Fran said.
So far, the chicken-bacon-ranch sandwich is the most ordered item, “but we think it’s because that’s the safest,” Cherie, 43, said. “As people come back, they get a little more adventurous. The pastas and omelettes have become very popular.”
Customers come from the immediate area as well as Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and nearby smaller communities.
“We enjoy seeing smiles on their faces,” Fran said.
The initial concept for the café was to emphasize strictly omelettes and breakfast.
“The omelette thing, I’ve always been draw to,” said Fran, noting that his father used to prepare them.
In addition to trying new things on the menu, the Guillaumes recently had an event for young people in town. Prior to Mount Vernon High School’s Homecoming, the café offered a five-course dinner. About 30 people attended.
The café’s hours are 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday (and until 8 p.m. on Thursday).
Daily specials are updated by mid-morning on the café’s website – www.skilletcafe.net. The smoke-free restaurant seats 50, plus a few more on the back deck. The building was built in 1895 and for many years was a bar. The café features exposed brick, the original tin ceiling and some of the original wood floor.
The Guillaumes hope to sell their home north of town and remodel the second floor of the building for their family, which includes Parker, 14, Chloe, 9, and Noah, 7. Their son Nathan, 20, lives in Cedar Rapids. They currently are operating in the building under a lease-to-own arrangement.
Fran and Cherie noted that being hands-on owners is the only way they want to run things.
“We’re owner-operated,” Fran said. “We didn’t want to build it and not be involved.”
Added Cherie, “If it’s open, we’re here.”