Joshua Morrison/Mount Vernon News
Michael and Valerie Hajjar spoke during Praisestock on August 19, 2019 about their new restaurant, Everlasting Cup. [request]
MOUNT VERNON — Michael Hajjar has high hopes for his new restaurant. He wants it to change the world.
Everlasting Cup, a cafe and coffee shop set to open this fall, will do more than serve food, coffee and freshly baked donuts. The profits will be used to help fund missions work in countries like Guatemala and Costa Rica.
“We saw the opportunity…to build community, to have a great place for people to meet,” said Hajjar. “We are also very focused on sustainability and giving back to the coffee regions of the world where there’s a lot of poverty and humanitarian needs.”
“They’re very hardworking people,” said Hajjar. “They’re happy, generous, kind people. They’re good people. They just don’t have the same opportunities we do in this country.”
The economic climate of coffee production doesn’t help. While the demand for coffee is growing, innovations in farming technology in countries like Brazil and Vietnam have driven production up as well. Coffee prices are dropping as a result.
Meanwhile, many coffee farmers in rural, mountainous regions of Central America are still picking coffee by hand.
“There is a price decline crisis in the coffee market,” said Jeremiah Cline, Everlasting Cup’s general manager. “Farmers who for generations have grown coffee and rely on that to feed their family, send their kids to school and literally eat, they do not have the means to continue farming unless the price of coffee comes up.”
Hajjar and Cline can’t bring the price of coffee up, but they hope to make a difference in another way: by purchasing items like wood stoves and irrigation systems for coffee farmers in high poverty areas.
“The needs are unlimited and the resources are few,” said Hajjar. “We’re going to look for projects that we can be a part of that create greater sustainability, health and wellness for those families.”
He and Cline have already cultivated relationships with long-term missionaries, who can offer a local perspective on where the greatest needs are. They also hope to take employees and community members on regular missions trips so they can make a personal connection.
“We don’t want to just send money and say good luck,” said Cline. “We really want to be boots on the ground, seeing, feeling, experiencing it.”
Everlasting Cup is set to open sometime in October at 510 South Main Street. Hours are yet to be determined, but the business will be open for breakfast and lunch at first and expand later to include dinner hours. A variety of coffee drinks will be available, as well as freshly baked donuts, breads and pastries. The fast-casual eatery will feature traditional American breakfast items and soups, salads, gyros and sandwiches for lunch.
Cline brings 25 years of restaurant experience to the table. He said that Everlasting Cup will focus on healthy, homemade offerings made with fresh, local ingredients.
“I’m from a family of cooks and bakers, so I’ve grown up making items that we’re going to have here,” he said.
Some of the items will be Mediterranean-inspired, an homage to Cline’s time as general manager of the Athens Greek Restaurant on the Mount Vernon square.
The coffee bar will offer a variety of drinks including brewed coffee, cold brews, iced blended beverages and espresso drinks. All the coffee beans will be roasted on-site.
In addition to dining in, customers will have a drive-thru option. There will also be a 24 hour coffee kiosk at the front of the restaurant, where customers can use a special, subscription-based mug to access coffee and Coca Cola products anytime on demand.
“Our name is a little bit of a play on words. The cups that we are going to offer have a digital chip on the bottom of them that allows customers to purchase a mug and pay for it for an entire month,” Hajjar explained. “Then they can get unlimited refills…therefore it’s called an Everlasting Cup.”
Mugs will come in various sizes and subscription plans ranging from ten small refills to a large unlimited option.
“We want to be relevant to young people with that fast-paced lifestyle,” Hajjar added.
While the coffee kiosk is designed for people on the go, the dining area will invite people to sit back, relax and stay awhile. The building, which formerly housed an automotive shop, has been completely redone.
“The only things left are the main structure and some of the concrete,” said Hajjar. “The roof, the siding, the concrete, the flooring, the walls, the insulation, all of the wiring, all of the plumbing… We ripped everything out of it down to the bare studs.”
Construction is ongoing, but Hajjar and Cline can already picture the finished product. The dining area will have cozy couches, granite countertops and hardwood tables handcrafted by local artisans. Repurposed beams, siding and trim from Ohio barns will add a hint of rural flavor. Most importantly, it will be a place for meeting people.
“It’s designed and built to provide a quality setting for the community to spend time together, be encouraged and head off to do positive things in their lives,” Hajjar added.
