Paul Bass Photo
The downtown public library relaunched its “Ives Squared” cafe with a second management crew — one that’s giving people like Tyrone Jones an entree into the labor market.
Jones (pictured) was preparing black forest ham & cheese sandwiches on brioche buns with horseradish, Swiss cheese and mayo for attendees Tuesday afternoon at a ribbon-cutting event for the second iteration of a lunch/coffee spot inside the Elm Street library building. The official name of the cafe is now “Orchid on the Green in Ives Squared.”
Mayor Toni Harp joined Paul McCraven, CEO of Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP), to cut the ribbon (pictured above).
The library first opened a cafe there last year under the auspices of G Cafe. That contract ran out. The library system decided to bring in a new manager, the folks at ConnCORP.
ConnCORP is a for-profit economic development subsidiary of the Science Park-based nonprofit Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), which trains people for culinary jobs and phlebomotist positions. Jones recently graduated with “Cohort 5” from ConnCAT’s culinary training program and has landed a job at the library cafe.
ConnCORP already runs an Orchid Cafe at Science Park, staffed by its culinary students. The library outpost is its second eatery. Within the next month the outfit plans to open a third operation, a combination convenience store-pizzeria called Petals Market & Pizza at 100 Ashmun St. in the Dixwell neighborhood. ConnCORP is also in the process of buying all the units at Dixwell Plaza to rebuild that commercial stretch of the neighborhood.
ConnCORP has recruited a familiar New Haven face to serve as a VP overseeing its food and beverage operations: Gideon Gebreysesus (pictured), founder of the popular erstwhile Eritrean eatery on College Street called Caffe Adulis.
It also recruited Raven Blake (pictured), who has a background in hospitality management and food service, to serve as manager of the three food operations. “You vote with your dollars,” Blake told the crowd at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting. “You support what you care for.”