Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim and Weyli Angus.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Both of us grew up in the northeast. (Jim) I’m from New Jersey; and (Weyli) I’m from Massachusetts. In those areas, you have your local corner store and pizza house, who are owned by the parents of someone you went to school with. Essentially, you know just about everyone in town and you know who owns those businesses. We currently live in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. If you know anything about this area, you know that it is a planned community with lots of housing developments, it’s clean, it’s beautiful and it has everything you would want. However, the one thing that it lacks is locale. We found ourselves driving to Sarasota, St. Pete and Tampa to find local spots to dine at regularly.
One day, as we were driving back from Tampa, we began to talk about what our future would look like. We always knew we wanted to start something. We wanted to create a place where the community can gather. We both have a history of being in the food industry. (Jim) I was a chef for 12 years of my life. (Weyli) I grew up in a family where my parents owned multiple restaurants. We are both passionate about connecting with people over food. We began to dream about what that would look like, and in a few moments, ATRIA was born.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Both yes and no. Smooth in the sense of how our vision and timing came together. Difficult because we had to make the hard decision of leaving comfortability and stability to step out and do something new. Once that decision was made, we were all in!
(Jim) Once the idea of ATRIA was out in the open, I had this half baked idea of bread drops (pun intended). I thought I might be making 4-8 loaves a week, seeing if people had an interest. I was so blown away by the response! I was making on average 40-50 loaves a week, baking out of my house. We also took part in a monthly local market called Friendly City Flea. We were baking 50 loaves of bread, plus pastries and cookies. It was crazy! I don’t even know how we pulled it off. Lack of sleep + coffee = Totally worth it!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about ATRIA Bread + Coffee – what should we know?
In Lakewood Ranch, Florida, we are in need of more local establishments. We believe that people are ready for something different. We see a community built by the universal language of food. Through ancient roots and modern vision, our concept centers around artisan bread and specialty coffee. We will be making all of our bread in-house, starting from grain that will be milled on-site. We will also have breakfast and lunch items that will be inspired by seasonal ingredients. We also plan on bringing people together through special events.
The name ATRIA has a two-part meaning:
The first meaning of ATRIA is that there will be a glass atrium in the cafe where bread will be made all day. So, you can watch the bread-making process from milled grain to bread coming out of the oven.
The second meaning of ATRIA is that you have two atria in your heart. The first atrium is where deoxygenated depleted blood flows into the heart, from there it receives oxygen from the lungs and pumps revitalized blood back into the body through the second atrium. In the same way, we want people to leave ATRIA feeling more refreshed, nourished and invigorated than when they came in. We want ATRIA to be at the heart of our community!
We are most proud of the community that is supporting us. We are excited and frankly, a little surprised that people saw such a need for a space like this in our community. It’s encouraging and gives us the drive to truly bring something unique to our area.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
We have had so many amazing people help us get where we are today that if we began naming everyone, this interview would look like movie credits. No joke! We are nothing without our community and we cannot thank our family, mentors, friends, flea market fam and bread droppers enough for being a part of this exciting journey with us!
We are really excited to be able to open our doors to the community and create a space for them to gather. We love people, so we are looking forward to hiring passionate people who need a home to hone their craft. We want ATRIA to be an incubator for the baristas, bakers, chefs and creatives that will redefine the food and beverage landscape of our community. We can’t wait to see you there!
Contact Info:
- Address: 4120 Lakewood Ranch Blvd
Lakewood Ranch, FL 34211 - Website: www.atria.cafe
- Phone: 9417802969
- Email: jim.angus@atria.cafe
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atria.cafe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atria.cafe/
Image Credit:
Olivia D’Amico
Daniel Mallek
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