By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Having traveled extensively, Victor Kulesh was unsatisfied with the American idea of a café. “Coffee shops in the U.S. are not what I think of as what a coffee shop should be,” said Kulesh, a Dryden resident. “I’ve seen a lot of different ones in Europe and South America and I took different pieces and ideas when I visited those, then kind of put it together. I thought, let’s do something and bring it here.”
That’s exactly what he did. His new café Harvester Coffee, Sweets & Eats opened at 150 S. Washington St. last week. “We opened Thursday. Then at nine o’clock customers started coming in and it’s been really busy.”
Kulesh grew up in Ukraine, but has lived in this area for over 20 years. The shop manager, Maria Nguyen, and Kulesh’s daughters helped come up with menu items, such as their European-style crepes that have been “a big-hitter.”
The coffee is sourced from Lao Mountain Coffee from the highlands of Laos. “We’re trying to get people to come in and sit down here, maybe spend a little bit of time with really good coffee we’re bringing from all the way on the other side of the world,” he said.
With various earthen and wooden tones resembling the shop’s signature drink, the café has a cozy atmosphere for coffee consumption. Kulesh did a lot of the interior woodwork himself, inspired by the craftsmanship of a high-end coffee/chocolate shop he visited in Quito, Ecuador. “It took a lot of time, but it was totally worth it.”
The shop is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.