Clifton coffee shop mainstay Sitwell’s has reopened under new ownership, and is now known as Sitwell’s Act II. The café closed its doors this January after a quarter century of business on Ludlow Avenue in the neighborhood’s Gaslight District. Known to Cincinnatians for its relaxed atmosphere, full bar and close proximity to the Esquire Theatre, Sitwell’s was a popular meetup spot for local artists and musicians whose work was often featured in the shop.
Now owned by Florencia Garayoa and her husband Alex Barden, the couple are determined to preserve what made Sitwell’s an iconic Cincinnati hangout while adding their own philosophy and personality. While Barden is a Cincinnati native, Garayoa is from Argentina and she was an employee at Sitwell’s during its last few months of operation under the original owner, Lisa Storie.
“She did a great job for many, many years, but in the last four or five years — we went through her numbers when we decided to buy the company and they were not terrible, but should not be that way,” Garayoa says. “She was tired. There was a lack of a team behind her. She was struggling to keep things together, doing the booking for music herself, cooking behind the bar — she did everything herself. She used to wake up at four in the morning to go to Findlay Market to get product, then to Restaurant Depot, then to a farm, then get here at 7 a.m.”
The project became unsustainable and Storie had several outside offers to make Sitwell’s something different, but she couldn’t decide which direction to take. At the same time, Garayoa says she and her husband were trying to decide if they were going to stay in Clifton — an area they were falling in love with — or move to New York when Storie approached them about the business.
“Alex was in finances and I’m more on the artistic kind of branch,” Garayoa says. “Lisa comes to me about selling the restaurant, I talk with Alex how it makes sense with his background and I can be the face of the place since I used to work with Lisa and know a lot of the local people and the regulars.”
The couple purchased Sitwell’s and began renovations, giving the interior a complete overhaul. Chef Kyle Scrimsher, formerly of E+O Kitchen in Hyde Park, was hired and tasked with creating a fully vegetarian and vegan menu.
“We want to keep a little bit of the funkiness along with the name, but we want to do things differently, of course,” Garayoa says. “One of the main things is going to be the menu. It’s still sandwiches, pastries, soups and salads — simple in that sense — but we’re now a fully vegetarian restaurant with vegan options. Most of the dishes can be made vegan.”
One featured sandwich is their Greek gyro made with seitan which, upon sampling, resembles traditional shaved gyro meat in both taste and texture. The glass noodle summer roll is springy, fresh and spicy with the included Thai chili sauce. Their quinoa and black bean salsa is one of several grain salads offered and was especially delicious when paired with some old-fashioned potato chips that served to scoop the salad like a dip. Soups include Vietnamese pho, vegan chili and a rotating soup du jour.
“It’s still comfort food,” Garayoa says. “Everything is made in-house. I really like the vegetarian and vegan food that doesn’t just speak to vegetarians and vegans. I like when a meat eater can enjoy a dish that’s completely vegan.”
Garayoa’s heritage is also represented on the menu via empanadas, Argentine wine and mate, an herbaceous drink similar to yerba mate tea that’s served in a traditional gourd and sipped through a filtered metal straw.
Garayoa and Barden knew it was important to retain several aspects of the OG Sitwell’s, but regulars of the shop might notice the iconic motorcycle found in the front window is no longer displayed.
“Lisa took the motorcycle when she left,” Barden says. “Knowing her, it’s sitting in her living room.”
The couple has also already reached out to local artists, assuring the community that Sitwell’s will continue to be a creative hub for the city’s up-and-coming musicians, painters, poets, et al.
“I really respect why the place is named Sitwell’s. Edith Sitwell was a writer and performer in the 1920s. She and her two brothers, they were this trio, were from a wealthy family. Instead of getting married…they decided to become artists and, because they had a bunch of money, they sponsored other artists,” Garayoa says. “They were always trying to encourage young poets and photographers. She was one of the first women to do poetry readings in the street as a performance with music in the background.
“That’s why we call this ‘Act II,’ because we are the second act of the restaurant and the Sitwells loved to write plays. I really respect what Sitwell’s was for a long time, in here happened a lot of cool things.”
Garayoa and Barden say the neighboring shops have been extremely inviting and hospitable. The owner of Ludlow Wines even gave the couple an antique player piano that’s now proudly displayed in the back of the café.
“It’s a really nice community to be a part of,” Barden says. “Lisa fought really hard when Starbucks wanted to move in on Ludlow. Nothing against Starbucks, they do their own thing, but we really like that this strip is all locally owned. A friend of mine said there’s a new restaurant going in down the street and asked if I was worried about the competition. No. Anything that’s going to draw more people to this area is good … ‘the rising tide lifts all ships.’”
“It is Sitwell’s, but now it’s our Sitwell’s,” Garayoa says.
Sitwell’s Act II, 324 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, facebook.com/sitwells.coffeehouse.
