Sharbot Lake's Cardinal Cafe Set To Be Turned Over To New Owners

Jeff Green | May 18, 2022

Rob and Nancy Moore took over the Cardinal Cafe from its original owners, Nicole Tarasick and Sylvie Smith at the beginning of the summer in 2015. The building, which had been a Catholic Church until it was replaced by a larger church up the road in 1990, sat dormant until 2014. when it was skilfully renovated by Tarasick Carpentry and turned into a cafe.

The Moore's have brought a lot of changes to the Cardinal Cafe over the past 7 years. Establishing it as a magnet for tourists while at the same time, creating a popular stop for local fans of coffee, sandwiches and sweet treats all year long. By 2020, it had become well established as a morning ritual stop for the Sharbot Lake workforce, a late morning meeting place for active Seniors and a place to get lunch and early afternoon snacks. “We were just ramping up for what we expected would be our biggest summer yet in March of 2020, when COVID hit us.”

During the lockdown, with limitations to indoor seating, the Cardinal began selling their popular line of doughnuts, cakes, and muffins at Mike Dean's Grocery, which is just around the corner and have had their products in a feature spot in the store most of the time since.

“That’s kept us working. Mike Dean’s Grocery has been a major contributor to our success and have been a solid supporter over the years. It allowed us to retain all our staff during the darkest part of the pandemic restrictions. We were also able to expand our product offerings; adding a premium soft serve ice cream business inside the café.” said Rob.

The ice cream/take-out window at the side of the building became the only public access to the cafe in the summer of 2020, as customers lined up, 6 feet apart, to get their Cardinal fix.

The carefully developed sandwich menu was adapted to be exclusively takeout, and the full range of Cardinal products has been available to customers for the past two years.

“We were able to continue to serve customers, retain employees, and keep on going the entire time,” said Nancy, “but it was certainly hard”.

“It helped that we have always had a strong take-out business, so we could adapt to a more exclusively take-out model, easier than a traditional restaurant could,” said Rob. “Although, the uncertainty of the pandemic has offered us new insight into where we wee ourselves in the future and has certainly played a role in accelerating our plans to secure the future of the business into capable hands.”

Rob and Nancy’s son's, Mason and Miles, are both students at Granite Ridge Education Centre, and family time while they are both still at home has always been integral to the family. “We made such an effort to give our young kids amazing experiences like camping trips, Canada’s Wonderland visits, Niagara Falls excursions and other attractions, only to realize they were so young, they didn’t really remember all of them.” Two years ago, they decided to put the Cardinal on the market. “To free up some time to offer our now teenage boys another chance at some amazing experiences before they go off to school. Now there is all of this new exciting energy being directed, once again, towards the Café. “It was important to us, that the new owners would be able to take the business and bring it to a new level. It was paramount for us to find the right fit. The Cardinal has an important role in the community, and we wanted to be confident that it will still do so after we leave,” said Nancy.

That's where Christine and Greg Butler come in. Greg is a chef/caterer and Christine was, until this week, a medical researcher at Sick Kids hospital in Toronto. But they both have an affinity for small town living. Christine's family; from Bowmanville, and Greg; getting his start in the food industry working summers in Haliburton. Late last summer, Greg and Christine were getting married and instead of a traditional stag party, Greg and his groomsmen arranged for a food tour of Frontenac County, centered around a camping trip to Sharbot Lake Provincial Park.

“I met Rob at the Cafe when we came in for breakfast the first day. After Cardinal solidifying itself as a daily Go-To breakfast stop that week, and chatting with Rob and the staff, he leaned the cafe was for sale. “I went back to Toronto and told Christine that we were going to move to Sharbot Lake and run a Café! She said “Okay!”, just like that, which is something she never does,” Greg said.

Since that first conversation, Greg and Christine, who got married in October and bought their first house just last month in town, have been busy making a major transformation in their lives. “Becoming land owners and business owners in Sharbot Lake has been a full lifestyle transition that we are thrilled about.” Greg is the owner of Northern Guild Catering, a company that he started in Leslieville, and continues to run today with his staff and business partner. “My interest has always been in top quality, high-end food service and after working in restaurants and with other caterers, he started Northern Guild last June,” Greg adds, the company has been successful, specialising in exclusive wedding menus and special occasion dinners, as well as tasting menu events. We will keep working with Northern Guild from Sharbot Lake.”

Starting next week, Greg and Christine, who brings her own experience in customer service to the Cardinal, will be the owners and operators of the business, as Rob and Nancy step back.

“We aren't going anywhere,” said Nancy, “we just live around the corner, so if they have any questions we are always there.”

The other thing that Rob and Nancy have put in place for Greg and Christine is a kitchen staff who are well trained, and able to prepare the food and drinks that have made cardinal such a successful place for its clients. “In catering, we’re are used to working in all kinds of spaces,” said Greg, “And the work Rob and Nancy have done have set us up for success. We love the Cardinal, and we don't plan on changing anything when we take over. If its not broke, don’t fix it!”

The takeover is happening at the beginning of the summer season, so Greg and Christine are confident and ready. With plans to keep all the favorites and add a few new offerings, they are looking forward to growing the Café and what it can bring to the community.

For now, the third phase of development for the Cardinal Cafe is about to begin. It has been quite a success story for a building that sat empty for almost 25 years, being used only as storage space, hosting a yard sale once a year. And there is no reason to suspect it won't continue under Greg and Christine Butler's management. “Our number one goal as a team is to continue to be there for the community, and to allow the Cardinal to continue to grow and reach its full potential.”