Calabria Coffee, a sleek little spot in the Village of New Hartford that has become the go-to place to gather for Utica’s buzzing suburb, celebrated its fifth anniversary to the day on May 28.
Emerging onto the scene the Friday of Memorial Weekend in 2021, as summer unofficially started and the Mohawk Valley emerged from COVID shutdowns, it was a winning combination of a community ready to gather again and a new local business designed to invite them to do that.
The Lamberto family cut a new ribbon five years later to say it looks like “we made it.”
Erika Lamberto, who moved cross country from Las Vegas with her husband, Bryce to his home town of New Hartford in 2019 to dive into their dream of opening a coffee shop, let alone launching as New Hartford – with the nation – tentatively emerged from the pandemic , was nervous enough about not becoming a casualty after their first year.
“People told us, once you get to five years? You’ve made it,” she said.
And they have.
The Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce hosted the ribbon-cutting event on a sunny morning on May 28 at the java shop at 52 Genesee Street, right across from the New Hartford Village Green.
The day-long celebration began with gifting free flowers to the first 100 customers, permanent jewelry pop-up by Rose & Company and specialty desserts from local partner businesses.
As has become a familiar sight in the sippery, a steady stream of neighbors and friends make up the coffee klatch that fills the space with the tapping of laptop keys and congenial conversation.
“The community really shows up for them,” said Grace Monaco of the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce. “Always.”
The Lambertos wove and mingled, as their five-year-old son Beau, who was born as the dream of Calabria Coffee came to life, added a shot of energy that puts espresso to shame as he buzzed about the shop.
Said Lamberto, “He was pretty much raised in the coffee shop.”
Palpably excited about the occasion, the proprietress greeted a regular customer waiting her turn to order with a friend. She spontaneously grabbed a gray Calabria Coffee sweatshirt and presented it to the woman, who wondered what it was for?
Lamberto just thanked her for being a customer since they cut their first ribbon and opened their doors.
“We’re so grateful to our customers, the other local businesses, the pop-ups who come in, just to everyone who has supported us,” said Lamberto. “We’re just so happy to be here.”
When the ‘coffee bean’ was first planted and the vision grew
While Bryce Lamberto is “born and bred New Hartford,” Erika hails from Michigan. The couple’s creation myth began in Las Vegas, where the pair met while both were building careers in the hospitality industry. It was there they married and welcomed their daughter.
The dream of opening their own business began in 2015, built on brainstorming, ideas of employing their hospitality management experience into a place of their own. That it would be a coffee shop, that it would collaborate with other local businesses, elements that would define the space and its sentience … that it would gather community.
That it would be called Calabria. The shingle they hoped to hang has its origin in the village of Calabria in the Reggio region of Italy, where Bryce Lamberto’s family comes from.
“I’m very into family history,” said Erika Lamberto. “There is a picture of Calabria hanging in the shop; and another print gifted to us by a customer after a visit there.
Summed Lamberto,”We wanted the name to tell a story.”
Then came Covid in 2020, closing the casinos, hotels, restaurants, performance spaces, the lights and bells, the sights and sounds elevating the “strip” to iconic, went dark and silent, making room for the Lambertos’ dream to ruminate into a plan.
“When it was all we had, we decided to go for it,” recalls Lamberto of the couple’s decision to sell their Vegas home and “come home” to Bryce’s hometown of New Hartford and get to work on working for themselves. Their daughter was a two-year-old toddler, Erika was 7 months pregnant with her son, add the family dog.
“And we drove cross-country,” she recalls with a laugh at the experience.
Calabria Coffee comes to life during Covid
Lamberto looks back on opening May 28, 2021 – just over a year into the COVID pandemic – and remembers the restrictions still governing businesses.
“It came with an extra challenge when we opened,” said Lamberto of the shields separating staff from customers, table from table, 6-feet-apart stickers, and – of course – the masks.
The approach the Lambertos took to set their spot apart was to keep it very, consistently clean.
The decor, which she shared had already been part of their vision, was a minimalist, sleek, stylish space set off by black, white, and shades of grey. Where it already emoted “clean,” the new proprietors adopted a vigilance about it.
“We wanted to make our customers feel both comfortable and safe,” said Lamberto, “so they would keep coming back.”
Greater Utica community are glad to count Calabria Coffee among them
The space on a corner in the middle of “the village” of New Hartford is distinguished by a smattering of sidewalk tables and chairs, right across from signature Presbyterian Church and the Village Green. To enter from the front is to meander through local teens sipping smoothies, writers and remoters tapping away at laptops powered by caffeine, job interviews, business meetings, senior sippers, first dates…
…to the “coffee counter” and at least a short line to order. Peruse a large community bulletin board cluttered with local business cards and flyers with pull-off contact info. They pour now a famously good cup ‘o joe, offering creative varieties, hot, cold, blended, and an assortment of teas.
Snacks include a synergy of handheld wraps, pastries (pusties, of course!) from Caruso’s Pastry Shoppe.
in Utica, bagels and breads from Philomena’s Salumeria, keeping the ovens warm in the former Utica Bread space, a variety of baked goods from Honey & Salt in Washington Mills, where you can order Calabria Coffee, and sweets from The Confectionery in Clinton.
Calabria Coffee also collaborates with other local businesses. Devoting a portion of white wall to a tiled backsplash boasting “Coffee Break” in neon script where pop up business events pop up on the regular. On anniversary day, Rose & Company Permanent Jewelry has set up shop. Books, Art, & More, a New Hartford Book Store has set up at Calabria, and a host of other businesses and non-profit causes.
“We’ve come here for three years now.” said Cara Higby, manning the Rose & Company Permanent Jewelry pop-up, who, when asked how selling their wares at Calabria Coffee has impacted their business, responded in a word, “Greatly!”
Five years is worth celebrating
Lamberto recalls a soft opening back in 2021. Tentative and unsure what to expect.
“When we first opened, we were taking such a huge risk,” recalled Lamberto, as the young family took the leap of faith of launching the dream of their small business in a world unsure of what post-pandemic life would be. “We had no idea what the future would look like. We just kept working hard.”
“Twenty-five percent of new businesses don’t make it past their first year, most don’t survive two years,” said Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce Marketing Associate Grace Monaco, who was on hand to celebrate the Lambertos on their fifth anniversary. “Calabria’s collaboration with pop-ups at their shop speaks to what keeps them going strong.”
Monaco spoke with gratitude about businesses like Calabria Coffee that go out of their way to convene with other local businesses and “help each other out.”
“The hospitality speaks for itself,” said Monaco of the Lambertos and their team. “They built something that has resisted change by staying consistent … they brought something special.”
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Calabria Coffee in New Hartford Village celebrates 5 years of community
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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