Looking for a cup of Fair Trade Coffee? A sandwich crafted on home-baked bread? A unique gift that also supports women’s collectives or Fair Trade community workshops?
Just head over to Cookstown and the Mad Hatter’s Table, where owner Debbie McIlwee offers all of the above at her new venture on King Street South.
Most people wouldn’t even think of opening a new business during a Pandemic, but McIlwee says that COVID-19 restrictions may actually have helped the new café and boutique: instead of stressing over a formal Grand Opening, The Mad Hatters’ Table quietly opened on Oct. 20, gradually refining their menu, and slowly building a name in the community.
“We just want to make sure we’re doing it right and the quality is good,” said McIlwee. “It’s about quality, not quantity.”
When it first opened, The Mad Hatter’s Table offered only coffee, cappuccinos, lattes, a variety of teas, and a limited number of baked goods.
“We expanded our teas. We slowly increased our baked goods,” she said. “We just introduced the lunches about Week three"
Now, the Mad Hatter’s Table offers home-made soups and sandwiches, like Grilled Cheese and Chipotle Chicken, on their own artisanal breads.
It’s still a fairly limited menu, that can change from day to day, but the focus is always on quality and local produce, whenever possible.
That’s part of the ethical foundation of the Mad Hatter, McIlwee said. “I’m trying to focus on Canadian, local. When I can’t do that, I try to focus on Fair Trade.”
In addition to the café, one half of the Mad Hatter’s Table is a boutique, featuring felted cat houses by Hammo Village, a Fair Trade initiative in Nepal; Pebble Fair-Trade knitted toys from Bangladesh; organic candles from Orangeville, a line of body care products produced by a women’s collective in British Columbia, and other ethically-sourced goods.
McIlwee has a background in both retail and the restaurant business. She and her husband used to operate a restaurant in Bala “about 30 years ago,” but raising a young family and operating a restaurant just weren’t compatible.
Now that the kids have grown and can help out, The Mad Hatter’s Table became an opportunity to get back into the business.
Retail continues to be important to McIlwee. She’s a big believer in “shopping therapy, the therapy that you get by walking around a store” – enjoying the sights, scents and the feel of the products.
In that sense, The Mad Hatter’s Table is very therapeutic, with its enticing displays, products that support an array of causes, and its lunches, home-baked treats and Fair Trade coffees and teas, served in compostable cups with paper lids.
The community has responded positively. “The first week was awesome, because everyone in town came,” McIlwee said. “The community has been wonderful. The support has been fabulous!”
Sales did drop off a little after week one, but now are back on the rise.
“We’ve been getting busy on the weekends,” McIlwee said, to the point where she has decided to open on Sundays during December, from at least 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., “depending on response.”
The Mad Hatter’s Table is limited by size, and by COVID-19 restrictions. It can only offer indoor seating at three small tables, separate from the retail area.
McIlwee has a plan to keep the café open, even if the province reinstates a lockdown due to rising COVID case numbers. The Mad Hatter’s Table is perfectly set up to offer take-out and front-door pick-up she said – but “Hopefully we don’t get to that stage.”
The Mad Hatter’s Table, 3A King St. South in Cookstown can be reached at 705-458-2700, or email [email protected].
