Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Spiteri.
Hi Jackie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m the owner and founder of Colias Cafe. Originally from Malta, I moved to the United States 38 years ago and have been living in Bloomfield, NJ for about 26 years. I always knew that I wanted to open a cafe.I have a unique background when it comes to experience in this industry. I am a certified Heath Coach so I decided to share my knowledge through food and baking and share it with my community. “Everytime I went to a cafe, I thought about how I would do it. I opened Colias Cafe in August of 2024, after being a stay-at-home mom for 24 years. I express two important factors when it comes to making Colias Cafe shine. “Customer service always comes first.” I want every person who enters Colias to enjoy their beverages, food, and time spent in the cafe. The second is that most of the ingredients are organic or locally sourced. I bake all of my baked goods except the croissants every day. The specialty about our baked goods are made from scratch and seasonal.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There’s always a struggle when running a cafe. Finding reliable employees, maintaning excellent customer service, and keeping everything consistent day after day are some of the biggest chalenges. Even when things are going well your constantly have to stay on top of staffing, quality, and customer experince.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My day begins around 5:30AM, baking our everyday pastries and preparing the store until opening the cafe at 7:30AM.
I connect with customers in the cafe as often as I can. I want them to feel like they’re at home. The vibe I’m trying to create for the cafe is deeply rooted in European cafe culture where people come, eat, drink, and relax. Which is why I take pride in our garden seating. Our backyard spaces captures the same warm feeling your morning coffee gives you. We encourage our customers to stay a while and enjoy their food and drinks at the cafe. We try our best to prevent the waste of takeaway containers while at the same time help our customers enjoy themselves and slow down and relax every minute they can!
I offer classic options like drip coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, cortados, hot chocolate, and more. There are also seasonal drinks crafted with care by our employees with the best ingredients and freshly made cold foam for each drink that offers.
We offer select food items with a small variety of sandwiches, oatmeal, and our top selling baked paramesean eggs.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Be prepared to work hard and be patient. Dont expect everything to be perfect from day one. Learn what works, fix what doesn’t, listen to customers and keep improving.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.coliascafe.com
- Instagram: coliascafe.com
