Anil Abbott said customers stopping at his gas station on the southeast corner of Sanders and Deerfield roads in Riverwoods continually asked him where they could get a cup of coffee and some breakfast nearby.
A Riverwoods resident with an entrepreneurial spirit, Abbott found a way to meet that need himself.
Abbott and his family will open their new coffee shop, Cafe De Oro, in a former bank building on Deerfield Road immediately east of his Mobil station in early June. He plans to offer a variety of coffee brews, baked goods and sandwiches for people to take along for lunch.
Sometime next year, the Abbots plan to expand their growing businesses with a healthy food restaurant immediately south of the coffee shop and gas station. Joining Abbott in both ventures are his wife, Upasana Abbott, who has a Ph.D. in food science, and their son, Yash Abbott, who spent eight months working at Starbucks learning more about the business.
“I will be the barista and the manager,” Yash Abbott said.
Before everything could come together for the Abbots and their three businesses on their Riverwoods corner of Deerfield and Sanders, a number of procedural steps had to be taken. Last summer, the village of Deerfield allowed the Riverwoods to annex the land where the restaurant will eventually open.
Anil Abbott said that allowed one governmental entity to regulate all three businesses as they developed both the coffee shop and restaurant. The Abbots got a special use permit from Deerfield three years ago but the coffee shop was not part of the mix. He said at the time, the bank would not sell the building it no longer occupied.
“The bank called us a year later and said do you still want to buy it, so we bought it,” Anil Abbott said. “It was a blessing.”
The annexation was complete in September 2016 and construction started in December, according to Anil Abbott. The interior of the coffee shop is finished with a drive-thru window installed. He said the exterior site work for both properties is nearing completion.
There will be a variety of coffees all made by La Colombe. Yash Abbott said the company is based in Philadelphia but the beans are roasted in Chicago, meaning they are fresh when they arrive in Riverwoods.
Something new will be a draft latte, according to Yash Abbott. He said the drink is a cold espresso made in a keg that brews for 10 hours.
“It’s really strong,” Yash Abbott said. “It’s a slow process so you can taste all of the flavors.”
Upasana Abbott, whose job in the food industry helped her develop a passion for freshness and healthy ingredients, said all the breakfast pastries will be made on the premises. They include three varieties of croissants, banana bread, scones, cookies and coffee cake.
“Everything will be made from scratch,” Upasana Abbott said. “The coffee cake will have hazelnuts and raspberries,” she added referring to the healthy approach she works into the fare. “You get nuts and fruit with your cake.”
The coffee shop will be open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to Yash Abbott.
Originally from India, the Abbots said they arrived in the United States in 1997 and became citizens in 2002. In India, Anil Abbott owned a PepsiCo distributorship and by 2005 was the owner of his own gas station in Riverwoods.
“We liked it, the kids liked it, we wanted to be citizens,” Anil Abbott said.
When they open the restaurant next year, Upasana Abbott said she will be using her education to develop a healthy menu using a lot of familiar foods. She said she will do everything she can to find local farm sources and every ingredient must pass her strict tests.
“We can control the ingredients,” Upasana Abbott said. “You start with healthy and fresh ingredients. There will be no frying.”
Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
