LIFE

BrewHaHa! moving Trolley Square cafe, opening new roastery and juice bar

PATRICIA TALORICO
THE NEWS JOURNAL

BrewHaHa! owner Alisa Morkides is moving her Trolley Square coffeehouse to a Wilmington space five times larger than the current one, and it will house a new coffee bean roastery.

Morkides isn't moving far - only across the parking lot.

Alisa Morkides, the founder of Brew HaHa!, meets with her marketing team and the construction company that will be building her new business called VIM, a juice bar and farm to table restaurant that will be shared by Brandywine Coffee Roaster in the Brew Ha Ha's current location in The Rockford Shops by Gilpin. The old Brew Ha Ha will move down the strip mall to an expanded space on the corner.

She is currently renovating the former Gilpin Mortgage offices at 14th and DuPont streets in the Rockford Shops. It's the same shopping center that houses her present BrewHaHa! as well as Piccolina Toscana and Moore Brothers Wine Co.

Morkides is eyeing an April 1 opening for the 45-seat cafe that will serve coffee made with house-roasted beans.

But, she isn't abandoning the coffeehouse space that has been home to a BrewHaHa! since 1998.

In its place, Morkides plans to create VIM, a juice bar and whole foods eatery that will have about 25 seats. It should open May 1. She says both locations will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Morkides doesn't see her competing with herself for customers. "They'll have such a different vibe and experience. I see it as collaborating and complimentary.'

The 4,700 square-foot Gilpin Mortgage space, available for lease since April 2014, is now undergoing a complete interior demolition. The BrewHaHa! cafe will be located in the front, and the new Brandywine Coffee Roastery will be in the back.

"It's the biggest project, times five, I have ever done," says Morkides, who founded the BrewHaHa! chain 21 years ago in Greenville.

Alisa Morkides, the founder of Brew HaHa!, Todd Purse, marketing, and Allison McKenney, director of operations, discuss plans for the future expanded Brew Ha Ha that will be move to the opposite corner of The Rockford Shops by Gilpin. Morkides is opening a second business called VIM, a juice bar and farm to table restaurant that will be shared by Brandywine Coffee Roaster in the Brew Ha Ha's current location in The Rockford Shops by Gilpin.

The roastery will be separated by a wall of windows. Customers will be able to see, hear and smell coffee being roasted much in the way they can watch beer being brewed at a microbrewery.

"Customers can see the action," Morkides says. "Coffee is going like craft beer. It's a culinary art form in its own right. We want to use this flagship cafe and roastery and create conversation and variety."

She says the new cafe, which will have counter service, will look much different than her other BrewHaHa! locations.

Morkides sees the decor as an "old lived in barn" or "Brandywine Valley meets Terrain at Styers," referencing the garden cafe adjoining the Terrain store in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.

There will be reclaimed wood on walls and a gas fireplace with a stone chimney.

"I love wood, old stone mills. It's an homage to the Brandywine Valley. I love the Brandywine Valley and want to honor that tradition. We are proud to be from Delaware. It's a beautiful place and we want to celebrate it," says Morkides, who also is planning a garden complete with a pergola, vines, flowers and lights.

Morkides has been inspired by similar cafe/coffee roasteries on the West Coast such as Sightglass Coffee in San Francisco. It also has a coffee bar and roaster under one roof.

The Brandywine Coffee Roastery will be a new aspect for BrewHaHa! and a way to grow the business. Currently, the Delaware based coffee chain buys coffee from a quality Oregon roaster.

But by roasting own their own beans, Morkides says she can supply all her cafes with coffee as well as sell to wholesale clients.

Morkides plans to train one of her current managers as a roaster, and they plan to source the right beans.

"We are definitely getting good help on that end; you need to make sure you have the right beans to begin with. It's like picking grapes when you make wine."

Morkides also has purchased a custom-built, pricey Loring roaster from California, widely considered the Rolls Royce of commercial coffee roasters. A roaster, which can weigh nearly 3,000 pounds, can cost more than $120,000.

She says her baristas, who will be trained by Loring consultants, are now "immersed in the roasting culture" and will learn roasting for different varietals.

VIM, the new juice bar/whole foods eatery Morkides is planning, is something she has wanted to do for some time.

Customers enjoy pastries, coffee and sandwiches at the Brew Ha Ha! in The Rockford Shops by Gilpin. Alisa Morkides, the founder of Brew HaHa!, is opening a second business called VIM, a juice bar and farm to table restaurant that will be shared by Brandywine Coffee Roaster in the Brew Ha Ha's current location in The Rockford Shops by Gilpin. The old Brew Ha Ha will move down the strip mall to an expanded space on the corner.

After struggling with her weight for years - she once wore a size 20 - Morkides changed her diet three years ago and began eating and living much differently. She began drinking juices and eating whole foods and lost around 100 pounds.

She says VIM comes from the words vim and vigor. "I wanted something that sounds like energy."

It will offer cold-pressed juices, green drinks and a vegetarian menu when customers can also add protein and tofu. She is currently looking for a chef/manager for the eatery.

Morkides will renovate the former coffeehouse. She envisions hues of mint green, orange and blue on walls and plans to use Moroccan tiles for inspiration.

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Read her culinary blog Second Helpings at www.delawareonline.com/blog/secondhelpings and follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico.