New Java Jazz owners want to open a Loving Hut vegan restaurant
A week after it closed, an open door at Java Jazz Cafe still managed to draw in several would-be customers on a muggy May afternoon.
Though they were turned away disappointed, the new owners hope it won’t be long before a door is officially opened again at the Delmar eatery. Carolyn and Tim Woodard are hoping to continue what made Java Jazz successful with a new twist you’ll be hard pressed to find elsewhere in the Capital District: a vegan menu.
This will be the first foray the Woodards have made into the restaurant world, but it’s been a long time coming.
The reason for having the restaurant wasn’t for money, Carolyn said. `This is my passion. I’ve had this goal for 10, 15 years.`
The Woodards hope to make the restaurant a Loving Hut, which is a chain of vegan restaurants with locations nationwide (the nearest to Delmar is in Manhattan). They may open under a different name, however, and change over once the franchising process is cleared by the state.
Java Jazz closed its doors last week after four years in business. Owner Cathy Callan had conducted a search to find a business that would aim to keep the same sort of community-oriented spirit that Java Jazz had.
`It was very important to find someone with values similar to mine, and Carolyn has those values,` Callan said.
She made the decision to close for personal reasons, including wanting to be able to spend more time with her daughter, who lives in California. Java Jazz donated its leftover food to the Samaritan Shelters in Glenmont.
Carolyn Woodard said she would like to continue many of the Java Jazz traditions, including hanging the work of local artists and having local musical acts visit. She also plans to use as many of the same local vendors as possible and even plans to offer a few of Java Jazz’s vegetarian favorites, like gazpacho and the Nirvana wrap.
For Carolyn Woodard, eating vegan meshes with her Buddhist background and current spiritual beliefs, but she also knows there are health benefits, too. Tim Woodard is diabetic and says eating vegan is great for his body and can also be quite tasty. They’re aiming for a menu that’s inclusive, however.
`Vegetarians, vegans, that kind of population was not my goal,` Carolyn Woodard said.
Visitors to the new eatery shouldn’t expect to end up munching on a bowl of roots and lettuce. Woodard is adapting dishes like sloppy joes (made with vegetable protein) macaroni salad, veggie meat ball wraps and veggie chili soup, just to name a few.
Tim Woodard said he thinks the Bethlehem community will be open to the new restaurant, especially when they see how good eating well can be.
`There’s a pretty good vegetarian and vegan community here,` he said, adding that `it just seems like a cozy little community.`
Besides carrying over several dishes, the new owners will do their best to maintain Java Jazz’s casual atmosphere and will still offer a variety of teas and coffees (from Spill’n the Beans in Grafton Hills).
An opening date hasn’t be set yet.
The Woodards own two area stores: Treasure Ayeland, a toystore in Colonie Center, and
Ye Olde Gift Shoppe in the Wilton Mall.“