UPDATED: Nov. 14, 2017 at 12:44 a.m.

Hidden in a house on Catawba Street is the upcoming Syracuse coffee bar and vegan cafe Brewed Awakening.

The eatery was established by Jeffrey Buck and Jarred Vryhof with Buck’s motivation to sell coffee on tap. The cafe will officially open its doors Friday.

Brewed Awakening’s menu includes various breakfast sandwiches with options of vegan eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon and croissants. Buck and Vryhof also plan on adding personal pan pizzas to the menu in the future.

While the vegan food is a huge aspect of the cafe, another pull factor is its coffee on tap. When customers walk in they can go to the bar.

“(There’s) no coffee bar in the industry, at least not in Syracuse, no bar where you can just go sit down at a bar style and have coffee at taps,” Buck said.

Brewed Awakening has four types of both cold and hot brew blends. The flavors range from Buck’s, a hand-roasted brew over a fire, to coffees from Buffalo and Hoosick Falls, New York, a town near the state’s border with Vermont.

Buck emphasized the importance of having coffee that isn’t local so people can find them at other restaurants in Syracuse. So, he looked across New York state.

Working with other organizations is something Buck and Vryhof enjoy doing. They sell vegan cookies from Zimmer’s Bakes in Weedsport, and bread from The Vegan Jewel Baking Co. in DeWitt. Vryhof owns PMA Foods, a vegan cheese company with customers including Funk ‘n Waffles and Strong Hearts Cafe, but PMA does not have its own storefront.

The cafe’s vegan food will be a drive for vegans, as Strong Hearts and Strong Hearts on the Hill are Syracuse’s only other 100-percent vegan restaurants.

“I’m excited, it definitely shows that there is a business for vegan items and that veganism is becoming more and more well-known and a popular diet,” said Jenna Holakovsky, president of Syracuse Animal Rights Organization and a senior at the State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry.

Buck and Vryhof know their eatery will attract vegans and had the chance to speak to several during their soft opening.

“Vegans are going to come from all over,” Buck said. “We’ve had people coming down from Rochester, Vermont and up from New Jersey.”

Buck had the idea while working on a project in business school and knew he wanted to bring to life. He is currently in business school and running the cafe.

When he ran into Vryhof at a food event in downtown Syracuse, the two discussed the idea for Brewed Awakening and soon became business partners.

Vryhof said he knew his egg and cheese sandwiches would do well at Brewed Awakening because they’ve been sold at Funk ‘n Waffles for the past three years.

The pair said they are excited to open up and start serving food.

“As long as we’re doing it, we’re happy,” Vryhof said.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the origination of Brewed Awakening’s coffees was misstated. Some flavors originate in Hoosick Falls, New York and in other parts of the state. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on November 13, 2017 at 7:09 pm

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