In October, Heather and Josh Wojehowski opened Fresh, on Main Street, offering a healthier alternative to fast food. Heather cashes out a customer.
Fresh isn’t just the name of a café describing the food it offers, but a mantra to live by every day. When owning a business, co-owner Heather Wojehowski said, one can expect good days and bad days. At the end of the bad ones, however, it’s important to shake it off and start fresh the following day.
Fresh opened on Cornwall’s Main Street in October and nearly six months later, owners Heather and husband Josh, are still trying to figure things out in terms of the busiest times of day. So far no pattern has surfaced.
“Some things you can’t anticipate so you always have to be on your toes,” Wojehowski said. “There have definitely been times when it’s been a 60-degree day and I think for sure tons of people will be out and about and it’s not as busy as I would have expected. The other day, it was just a random Tuesday afternoon, it was three degrees outside and we were insanely busy all day long from the time we opened the door to the time we shut the door. Cornwall is a walking town, so I do anticipate, once everyone is out of their homes from this bad weather and starts walking around, we’ll probably see more traffic. It’s a learn-as-I-go process.”
Fresh is co-owned by husband and wife team, Josh and Heather Wojehowski. Josh is a chef and handles the catering side of the café while Heather handles the staff and day-to-day operations.
Heather majored in liberal arts at Marymount Manhattan College. It was during summer break that she met her future husband, who was a student at the Culinary Institute of America. Following graduation, Josh did a variety of things in both politics and non-profit work at the YMCA, but he continued his culinary profession through special events catering. Heather had a career in publishing in the editorial department of Pearson Education. Heather worked alongside Josh in the special events industry.
The two continued to live in Manhattan for 10 years and moved to Cornwall three years ago. In 2012, Heather gave birth to their daughter. She stayed home on maternity leave while Josh continued to commute into the city. When Heather was ready to return to work she found commuting to Manhattan wasn’t appealing anymore. It was then they started to discuss opening their own café and expanding into freelance catering. When a space on Main Street became available, the idea snowballed.
The idea for Fresh came from the fact there was no nearby place to purchase sandwiches and salads for takeout, after the local deli had closed. Fresh offers freshly roasted meats and homemade spreads, soups and salad dressings made with fresh, local products, showcasing what the Hudson Valley has to offer. Most of the desserts are also homemade. Fresh offers a variety of breakfast and lunch sandwiches, wraps, and paninis, as well as an assortment of other items.
One of the more popular sandwiches is the Hudson Valley Harvest, which includes roasted turkey, brie, apple pear chutney, and cranberry mayonnaise on a ciabatta roll. The top salad is the Santa Fe which includes grilled chicken, avocado, black beans, and roasted corn.
Fresh is open daily for breakfast and lunch, but the Wojehowskis also offer a Friday Night Dinner Club. The upscale bistro-style menu not only gives people a taste of the catering food they offer, but it also lets them know Fresh isn’t just about sandwiches and salads. Every Tuesday the Friday night menu is posted on freshcornwall.com. People can schedule a pick-up or delivery time for their three course meal made up of salad or soup, entrée, and dessert.
The café serves as the face, allowing people to get a taste of the food, but the catering aspect is the epicenter of the business. They’ve catered a number of events at SUNY Purchase, as well as artist receptions. They’ve done some holiday and birthday parties as well. Wojehowski said they cater a few events per month.
As business owners and parents, Heather and Josh both have long days. Heather’s begins at around 9:30/10 a.m. and doesn’t end until 9/10 p.m., but she is afforded the luxury, as a business owner, to flex her time between being a parent and a business owner.
“We’re fortunate to have family members to take care of our daughter when we’re at work,” Wojehowski said. “When we walk away from our child we know she is well taken care of. We have a confident and talented staff, so when we walk away from the business we know it’s taken care of.”
Josh’s day is a little more complicated as he still works in the city for the YMCA, all the while balancing the catering side of Fresh. His day starts around 5 a.m. and doesn’t end until 10 p.m.
“For Josh, it took a while to find what type of job he wanted in the food industry because very early on he knew the restaurant life, working late nights, the things that come with working at restaurants weren’t exactly appealing to him. The catering component was much more attractive to him because it’s a little bit more of a controlled chaos. You know how many guests to expect. You know what time you have to be there. There’s a lot of planning that goes into a special event which I think suits both our personalities much better. With the non-profit work, he enjoys doing something that’s meaningful to him. An important part of his career is making sure that what he does has meaning and gives back to his community.”
In April, Fresh will be offering $6 wraps to celebrate its sixth-month anniversary. As spring and summer approach, the Wojehowskis are planning some changes to the menu to provide lighter food options. A number of customers have inquired about chicken and tuna salad so both are being considered, but with a twist. Just like the build-your-own salad component, a build-your-own rice bowl could also make its way onto the menu.