This week, Liesa Hartman opened her own small business, Hartman’s Coffee & Tea!
Operating Wednesday to Sunday, 8am to 4pm, Liesa’s doors are open to all who enjoy a delicious cup of tea or coffee with a sweet treat on the side.
You may recognize Liesa from The Livery Yard where for the past five years she has been the cafe’s manager, and for a long spell also the baker.
It’s clear Liesa has always loved the food and beverage industry with years spent honing her skills at York St Kitchen, Revel, The Bruce and once upon a time, at a kitchen in a little inn in Scotland!
Always in the back of her mind she had a little dream to open her own place… and now thanks to encouragement by a local entrepreneur and the Starter Company program she is enrolled in by the Stratford Perth Centre for Business, Liesa’s dream has become a reality!
The café offers bar seating across two gloriously large and sunny windows. And you can look forward to much more seating outdoors when the heat outside turns up a few notches!
All drinks are served in compostable cups and lids, sourced from Soyle in Quebec. The coffee is provided by Boundary Roasting Co, a small-batch specialty coffee roastery near Listowel, owned and operated by young husband-and-wife team, Arend and Paige. The in-house coffee beans are from traceable, single-origin farms and co-operatives in Brazil and Nicaragua. Liesa also offers bagged beans from Streets Ahead, with fun names like Shadow Panther and Electric Dino-Mite. The mantra of this cool Woodstock-based company is: “Fresh, small-batch roasted specialty coffee that feels like finding a Twinkie in your lunchbox!” You know it has to be good!!
Liesa is also a tea sommelier – at least “almost!” – and has on her menu delectable teas from local business Tea Leaves as well from green teas from Quebec.
Cookies, muffins and breads (banana and the like) are made by Liesa’s pastry chef husband, Gilad. Recipes are a husband-wife collaboration!
Pastries such as croissants are delivered daily by local business Alchemy Bake Shoppe. And bread for the Toasties is sourced from Milo at The Painted Baker just on York St. Mouth watering toastie options include: Halloumi and Za’atar; Wildwood Cheese and Apple Butter; and, Smoked Gouda and Miso Butter.
If it’s more of a “let’s meet for a drink” vibe that you are after, Liesa has you covered – there are many options from Black Swan and Good Lot, in addition to canned cocktails and small-batch natural wine.
Drop in soon to this cozy space and welcome Liesa as the newest member of the Downtown Stratford BIA!
For more information, find Hartman’s Coffee & Tea in our directory!
