A L’il Expansion in Big Taste

The Redheads Bring Bold Flavors to Leland

Sept. 21, 2014

You know them from local restaurants Kejara’s Bridge and The Redheads Café. They’re popular for serving up local, organic, whole foods that support their community. Now, the dynamic duo of Sarah Landry Ryder and her sister Christen–both as redheaded as their company name–has unveiled its next venture: the L’il Leland Cafe inside Leelanau Books.

CAFE CHASE

In 1996, one sister was living in Colorado and one in Ireland. As they talked back and forth long-distance, they realized that what they were really aiming to accomplish was a move back to Leelanau.

"A building came up on auction on Main Street in Lake Leelanau, so we decided to try a combo art gallery and music venue that served great coffee, baked goods, and sandwiches," Ryder explained.

That building became Kejara’s Bridge, which opened in spring 1997. By 2001, the restaurant had become a local favorite and the sisters decided to branch out by taking one of their most popular cafe products, their hummus, into shops.

"Now we’re in more than 175 stores between Michigan and Indiana," Ryder said.

However, Kejara’s Bridge was the casualty of this success–at least for the time being–and they closed the cafe in 2010 to focus on their wholesale foods business. This pause would only last a few years while they established their retail line. They soon reopened as The Redheads Café and Tasting Room; they brought back Kejara’s classic menu items and added a place for customers to try their retail products.

With business at their Café and Tasting Room booming, the Redheads decided they weren’t quite done expanding. Next up, the L’il Leland Café, which opened in June, 2014.

"I drive through Leland to get to and from work every day," Ryder explained. "Last year, I noticed how much foot traffic they had, and I took a poke around one day to see where we could perhaps have a presence in Leland. In doing so, I found that Leelanau Books was looking to expand their cafe!"

FRESH BAKED

While the bookstore always served coffee, it was nothing like what The Redheads could do, explained Leelanau Books owner Diana Sebaly. "It was a pleasure to have them take over the barista part, plus bring in all of her vegan, gluten-free baked goods," Sebaly said. "What I like best about the cafe is sharing space with Sarah. The Redheads have introduced new people to us and we have both benefitted with good French-pressed coffee, lattes, chai, great books, baked goods, free wifi, and a place to sit and enjoy. It’s priceless."

Ryder agreed wholeheartedly. "The Sebalys have been amazing to work with. It has been a happy "˜marriage’ that has obviously worked in larger arenas that have bookstores and coffee shops, and it seems to have worked here on a smaller scale, as well," she said.

According to Sebaly, a good share of the credit for the L’il Leland Cafe’s success goes to The Redheads’ homemade baked goods, which include their "famous" fudge brownies, carrot and cinnamon muffins, ginger molasses scones, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies with almonds and cashews, and coffee cakes with local seasonal fruit, all baked fresh each morning.

"We also feature Light of Day Tea Farm’s Hummingbird Nectar Tea, which we mix with our fresh lemonade," Ryder said. "And we use organic, fair trade coffee from Higher Grounds; we take espresso-making quite seriously."

SWEET PLACE

The Redheads’ other products are available at the L’il Leland Cafe too: sauces, dressings, granola, and that popular hummus.

The plan is to continue expanding their brand identity, to add salads and sandwiches by next year and, in the meantime, to serve the best coffee in town. Ryder calls the enterprise "a l’il haven in the busy l’il town of Leland."

"Through the cafe, we hope to increase traffic in the bookstore and to encourage people to support their local bookstores, as opposed to buying online or from larger chains," Ryder said. "Community has always been very important to our company and we want to continue to support our local economy."

With that in mind, the cafe’s seating is designed to encourage folks to buy and sit a while–inside or outdoors.

"It has an amazing view of the islands for those working on computers and such," Ryder said. "It’s such a sweet place to start your day, jolt your afternoon, or sail into your evening."

The Redheads’ L’il Leland Cafe is located inside Leelanau Books, 109 N. Main Street in Leland (231-256-7111). A list of The Redheads’ retail products and store locations can be found at www.redheadsinc.com.