By Hayleigh Gowans
Staff Writer
Business partners and engaged couple Shem Doupé and Taylor Randolph both love coffee and the experiences that can happen over a freshly brewed cup, having met in a cafe themselves. On May 2, they opened a coffee shop of their own, Soleil Café, and hope to provide a rich coffee experience with an inviting atmosphere to other coffee lovers in the Fayetteville area.
“There’s so much that can happen over a cup of coffee,” said Randolph. “We want to provide a warm and relaxing environment where customers can feel comfortable and really enjoy themselves.”
The shop serves coffee from Cazenovia-based roaster Peaks Coffee, and includes a menu that offers espresso beverages, pour-over coffee, loose leaf tea, pastries and fresh Belgian waffles made from scratch with fruit toppings. It is located in the former location of Gino’s Cheese Steak and Onion in Fayetteville Square Plaza, 511 E. Genesee St. in Fayetteville.
“We want to expand people’s ideas of what coffee is,” said Doupé. “We aim to provide an experience over a product that is a part of so many people’s lives.”
Doupé said he and Randolph, both natives of the Syracuse area, felt Fayetteville was a good location for the shop because there is a focus on community in the village. Creating a minimalist and bright shop that is small and intimate was something the pair felt was important in attracting customers — and so far the response from the community has been positive.
“Our customers are really great. We’ve gotten a lot through word-of-mouth,” said Randolph. “It’s nice to be able to get to speak with them and get to know the community a bit better.”
Randolph and Doupé are no strangers to the positive barista/customers relationships that can form in a small café setting. The couple met while Randolph was working as a barista at a local coffee shop and Doupé was a regular customer. They have plans to get married over the summer.
“The idea to open a café actually came up in the conversation on our first date,” said Doupé. “We never really mentioned it again until a few months ago when we decided to just do it and went to work on making it happen.”
Soleil Café is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, go to soleil-cafe.com, or follow them on Instagram at @soleil_cafe and Facebook. Drink specials can be found by following them on social media.
