CHLOE KOWALYK
News Editor
For many SUNY Fredonia students and local Fredonia residents, nothing beats getting brunch at Domus Fare, a local breakfast and brunch restaurant in Fredonia.
Since the diner opened in 2014, guests have been enjoying the various savory and sweet flavors the restaurant has to offer. From the moment they walk in the door, customers get a clear sense of why the restaurant’s name, “Domus Fare,” is Latin for “home cooking.”
Mouth-watering scents of applewood smoked bacon simmering in the kitchen and freshly brewed coffee being poured into cups at each table fill the air and lure guests into the door.
The lighting is dim and calm, and peaceful instrumental music can be heard throughout the dining area. Laughter and indecipherable conversations turn into a mixture of noise that almost drowns out the music, acting as a lead singer to the calm piece playing in the background.
Metal tables and chairs furnish a wood-accented dining room, and gum is stuck to the bottom of the tables from hungry customers who were making room in their mouths for the delicious brunch they are about to eat.
Posters and cork boards line the walls, and a newspaper stand holds the latest copy of the local college’s newspaper.
The short wait for a table feels like an eternity as the sweet aromas of a tasty breakfast prompt stomachs to rumble.
When seated at last, the difficult decision of choosing which dish to get faces the guests. How about a custom omelet filled with their favorite meats, cheese and veggies? Or maybe a stack of blueberry buttermilk pancakes with a side of fresh fruit and eggs?
Just looking at the words on the menu makes guests hungry, with the added smells of others’ food and the sounds of other customers’ forks and knives clinking against their plates.
While it may feel like forever, it won’t be long until a waiter or waitress greets them with a peppy smile and a scratch pad to mark down their order.
The waitress asks, “Can I start you off with something to drink?” and scribbles down the name of the drink that will keep the guests’ taste buds occupied until their brunch arrives.
Guests share envious looks with other guests as they watch them chow down on their meals, still waiting for their orders to be cooked up. Tapping their feet and sipping their drinks keeps them distracted from their rumbling stomachs.
Bits of conversation can be caught in between bites. “I totally forgot to RSVP for my sister’s wedding,” said one guest as he set his drink down in anguish, fear noticeably widening his eyes.
At another table, guests who seem to be SUNY Fredonia students discuss stressful class assignments and the upcoming midterm exams, lamenting the papers and long nights of studying ahead of them.
Familiar faces walk through the door seemingly in a loop, and it seems as though everyone in town had the same idea of getting brunch at Domus Fare on a Saturday afternoon.
At last, the guests’ small conversations are interrupted by the clank of their plates hitting the table space in front of them, with the same smiling waitress calling off orders and setting them in front of each customer.
The fantastic smell of their orders brings the corners of guests’ mouths to a smile as they lick their lips and grab a fork to dig in. The guests slather their toast with colorful jellies and add some salt and pepper to top off their meals. The conversations around the table die down as everyone is too busy filling their mouths with food.
Each bite melts in the mouth, making taste buds dance. Eating the brunch almost seems to go by too quickly, as your stomach gets full and the amount of food on your plate lessens.
At the end of the meal, the waitress with the peppy smile brings a check and a small leather case that holds the guests’ receipts. The guests dig into their pockets to pull out some cash or a credit card, as well as a tip for the waitress.
But the Domus Fare that students don’t see is the one that happens early in the morning, while classes are still in session.
Domus Fare suddenly becomes an unfamiliar territory for the college students.
The metal chairs and tables are mostly empty, with mostly retired residents scattered around the dining room.
They drink coffees and discuss old memories and the morning news as they wait for their breakfast. The guests reminisce about their time in college nearly fifty years ago.
The atmosphere around Domus Fare on a Friday morning is the exact opposite of a Saturday morning. On Friday mornings, you’ll find a calm, quiet and relaxing Domus Fare. But on Saturdays, Domus Fare is full of energetic and hungry college students.
Leaving Domus Fare, no matter the day, guests are already discussing what they’re going to try next time and are planning their next brunch.
For college students, having a Domus Fare breakfast is a way to relate back to home with the restaurant’s home-cooked meals serving as the namesake of their local business.
For the retired residents, Domus Fare is the perfect setting to catch up with old friends and reminisce about once being like the rambunctious college students who’ll sit in their seats a few hours later.