Three local entrepreneurs have brought a taste of neighbouring community coffee houses to downtown Sicamous.
Named for the nearby round-about at the east end of Main Street, the RoundAbout Coffee House opened its doors on July 18, and has already established a following.
The specialty coffee house was initially the vision of Brian Anderson who, in the process of acquiring the lease for the former Channel House Café, picked up a couple of partners: fellow coffee lovers Shawna and husband Kevin Koll.
“He was talking about it and because we lease the building from The Marina, and I actually do all the accounting work over there, so when we were negotiating the lease for it back in October and he was telling me about his concept, I was like, wow, because my husband and I had been thinking of this for a very long time,” says Shawna, explaining how she and Kevin would go to coffee shops in Revelstoke, Salmon Arm and Kelowna.
“We just really felt it was something that was needed here, because why are people travelling out of our community to get it? And there’s sort of a group of us that love this whole concept of a community meeting place where you can get some good coffee and a little treat… and that was sort of how it evolved.”
Coffee is number-one at the RoundAbout. Shawna says that, after some enjoyable research, they settled on Nelson’s Oso Negro micro-roaster to provide the espresso – developed specially for the RoundAbout, a medium roast from Revelstoke’s Stoke Roasted Coffee Co., and a bold by the Shuswap Coffee Co.
Food is also available – a small assortment of baked goods along with a breakfast wrap in the morning and soup in the evening. Shawna explains the menu is kept deliberately small to keep costs down. But she says what they do provide, they make from scratch, using only the highest-quality ingredients.
“That’s the only thing that’s going to differentiate us. It’s not a SnowCap or a GFS truck rolling up with pre-made goods,” says Shawna. “It’s something truly believe in and we’re trying to evolve it more. We’re trying to use as many local products as we can.”
The building the RoundAbout is in was completely renovated, Shawna explained, to provide a coffee house environment that is comfortable, while being true to the house’s heritage as well as the town.
“The house is a 1937 house, and actually, Brian Anderson is a partner in Bayview Homes,” says Shawna. “So they did a beautiful renovation. It took a lot longer than expected because they are busy as well… but yeah, it’s gorgeous, and we’ve had a lot of comments on it.”
The RoundAbout is open seven days a week, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 6:30 to 4 p.m. on Sundays.