It’s a New York state of mind for the team at Muddy Waters
Wooster has become home to many unique restaurants and coffee shops that offer a great variety of cuisine along with a warm atmosphere, and Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille is no exception.
Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille was formerly located in the basement of the Liberty Street Commons and specialized in coffee, pastries and lunch. They made the move to a street level space at 116 E. Liberty Street, in the old Pierce’s Sporting Goods Store, a retailer that still occupies a renovated space in the upper two levels of the building. The new location for Muddy Waters offers diners more space and gives the cafe a higher level of visibility downtown.
Dennis and Paula Tafoya, the owners and proprietors of Muddy Waters, couldn’t be more excited about their new space. The husband and wife duo said their vision for the new Muddy Waters was to expand on their success as a coffee shop, but to offer more options to their customers by expanding their menu, and extending their hours to offer dinner in addition to breakfast and lunch.
“We definitely still offer the quaintness of our original coffee shop/cafe, but we have evolved into an almost ‘diner’ type restaurant with a fun, relaxing atmosphere,” said Paula.
Dennis especially was inspired to transition to a diner-like atmosphere because of his childhood. Growing up on Long Island, diners were plentiful.
“We definitely have that New York slant to our menu,” said Dennis.
After living in the south for a number of years, Dennis counts southern barbecue - primarily a Memphis-style dry rub, as one of his favorite foods as well.
“Ribs are always on the menu when we cook at home,” Dennis noted.
And Paula’s background hasn’t been discounted either. All of her grandparents immigrated to the U.S. through Ellis Island from Palermo, Sicily.
“I’m 100 percent Sicilian. We have quite a few family recipes that we’re featuring from my side of the family,” added Paula.
The couple is thrilled with their new space and completed all of the renovations themselves, along with help from friends and family, under the direction of Carl Finley of Carl Finley Builders, one of the area’s only certified green builders. The grill area was left purposefully exposed so that diners can interact with the chefs, and vice versa.
“We really want our customers to have a personal experience,” said Paula. “We are an interactive restaurant with our customers, we treat them like family and I think they feel that.”
In order to help make their vision a reality, the Tafoyas hired Jeremy Burns, a local chef who has an impressive resume that includes stints at South Market Bistro, The City Square Steakhouse, and The Wooster Country Club, to name a few. Burns played a key role in the opening of City Square Steakhouse, but the role was more managerial. Eager to return to the kitchen, he joined Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille in order to return to his true passion - cooking.
Burns said he was about 7 or 8 when he first starting experimenting in the kitchen.
“I loved to be in the kitchen with my mom during the holidays,” remembered Burns. “I love food, I love eating, and food has always been a way to bring people together. Cooking a big meal for family during the holidays is the best.”
With more than 15 years of restaurant experience under his belt, Burns noted that he’s been cooking for over half of his life. His combined hands-on experience and training at culinary school have helped him to hone his culinary style and learn about the finer ends of cooking, cheese and wine, as well as how to manage and supervise a kitchen staff.
The Tafoyas and Burns each bring a set of unique skills to the new space and the expanded menu, and their hope is to provide customers with a variety of experiences at Muddy Waters.
In addition to offering a cozy spot for coffee and a pastry in the morning and lunch in the afternoon, the new Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille also boasts a full-service bar for the happy hour and dinner crowd.
In order to mix things up and offer some night life downtown, Muddy Waters now offers DJ by Request every Saturday night from 9 p.m. to midnight. On Friday nights, a variety of local artists are featured.
“Larry’s Music Center very graciously sponsored our sound system and stage area so we will be featuring music reviews by a variety of their students as well,” added Paula. “We also offer our space for private parties for 50 people or more or if someone has a smaller group we can accommodate groups of up to 40 people during regular business hours.”
This article was underwritten by Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille.
Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille was formerly located in the basement of the Liberty Street Commons and specialized in coffee, pastries and lunch. They made the move to a street level space at 116 E. Liberty Street, in the old Pierce’s Sporting Goods Store, a retailer that still occupies a renovated space in the upper two levels of the building. The new location for Muddy Waters offers diners more space and gives the cafe a higher level of visibility downtown.
Dennis and Paula Tafoya, the owners and proprietors of Muddy Waters, couldn’t be more excited about their new space. The husband and wife duo said their vision for the new Muddy Waters was to expand on their success as a coffee shop, but to offer more options to their customers by expanding their menu, and extending their hours to offer dinner in addition to breakfast and lunch.
“We definitely still offer the quaintness of our original coffee shop/cafe, but we have evolved into an almost ‘diner’ type restaurant with a fun, relaxing atmosphere,” said Paula.
Dennis especially was inspired to transition to a diner-like atmosphere because of his childhood. Growing up on Long Island, diners were plentiful.
“We definitely have that New York slant to our menu,” said Dennis.
After living in the south for a number of years, Dennis counts southern barbecue - primarily a Memphis-style dry rub, as one of his favorite foods as well.
“Ribs are always on the menu when we cook at home,” Dennis noted.
And Paula’s background hasn’t been discounted either. All of her grandparents immigrated to the U.S. through Ellis Island from Palermo, Sicily.
“I’m 100 percent Sicilian. We have quite a few family recipes that we’re featuring from my side of the family,” added Paula.
The couple is thrilled with their new space and completed all of the renovations themselves, along with help from friends and family, under the direction of Carl Finley of Carl Finley Builders, one of the area’s only certified green builders. The grill area was left purposefully exposed so that diners can interact with the chefs, and vice versa.
“We really want our customers to have a personal experience,” said Paula. “We are an interactive restaurant with our customers, we treat them like family and I think they feel that.”
In order to help make their vision a reality, the Tafoyas hired Jeremy Burns, a local chef who has an impressive resume that includes stints at South Market Bistro, The City Square Steakhouse, and The Wooster Country Club, to name a few. Burns played a key role in the opening of City Square Steakhouse, but the role was more managerial. Eager to return to the kitchen, he joined Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille in order to return to his true passion - cooking.
Burns said he was about 7 or 8 when he first starting experimenting in the kitchen.
“I loved to be in the kitchen with my mom during the holidays,” remembered Burns. “I love food, I love eating, and food has always been a way to bring people together. Cooking a big meal for family during the holidays is the best.”
With more than 15 years of restaurant experience under his belt, Burns noted that he’s been cooking for over half of his life. His combined hands-on experience and training at culinary school have helped him to hone his culinary style and learn about the finer ends of cooking, cheese and wine, as well as how to manage and supervise a kitchen staff.
The Tafoyas and Burns each bring a set of unique skills to the new space and the expanded menu, and their hope is to provide customers with a variety of experiences at Muddy Waters.
In addition to offering a cozy spot for coffee and a pastry in the morning and lunch in the afternoon, the new Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille also boasts a full-service bar for the happy hour and dinner crowd.
In order to mix things up and offer some night life downtown, Muddy Waters now offers DJ by Request every Saturday night from 9 p.m. to midnight. On Friday nights, a variety of local artists are featured.
“Larry’s Music Center very graciously sponsored our sound system and stage area so we will be featuring music reviews by a variety of their students as well,” added Paula. “We also offer our space for private parties for 50 people or more or if someone has a smaller group we can accommodate groups of up to 40 people during regular business hours.”
This article was underwritten by Muddy Waters Cafe and Grille.
Published: September 18, 2011
