MacFadden Coffee Company

Reinvigorating the Coffee House Scene

-By D.E. Bentley

When I met with Denise Scannell and George Guida, the new owners of MacFadden Coffee Company in Dansville, NY, our monthly Owl Light Inquiry about Tom Waits song “Hold On” seemed like an ideal segue into our planned discussion about their new venture.  Waits’ perception of coffee shops stems, they believe, from a particular time and place, including the New York City coffee shop scene in the 1980s, when coffee shops were a bit more avant-garde.  (Waits also experienced the coffee shop scene in Los Angeles in the 1970s.)  

George and Denise reflected on the loss of some of these NYC arts-focused venues, with their simple wood tables and late-night hours (and heavily smoke-filled rooms). These early venues also fostered creative conversation around political storm of the times.  “Coffee shops started to variegate in the 1990s,” offered George, “many of our current day coffee shops are veneers of those earlier shops, with similar styles but lacking the vibe.”  

This led us into a more in-depth discussion of their coffee house vision. They are looking to create a community gathering place rather than a coffee shop/restaurant (although both come from large Italian families who owned restaurants, and worked in restaurants, giving them an advantage over those totally new to food service).  They want a more authentic café culture, a “cultural, civic, and communal” space where people feel at home and can socialize in a relaxing and affirming setting. Music and literary events are part of that vision. 

The space will have a resident piano and a place for original acoustic performances. A well-attended Wintertime Coffeehouse Live Performance and Open Mic with songwriter and poet Joseph Fasano on January 17th offered an enjoyable and welcoming coffee house evening. The open mic portion of the evening featured musicians and poets, including a number of young women honing their songwriting and performance arts with guitars, and a ukulele. Other events are in the works, so stay tuned. MacFadden Coffee Company will be open year-round. They will gradually grow their hours, while creatively expanding their offerings of food and entertainment.  

More than anything, they want to get to know and collaborate more with people from the community. When they heard that MacFadden’s was on the market, they knew that this would facilitate their goal of becoming permanent residents, a desire that has grown as they have spent, and enjoyed, time in the area since 2004. One benefit of the move is being in a place where their children can move about more freely, without the need for micro-management. They also hope to provide another welcoming place for young people in the Dansville community—a community space where they can visit with friends, work on schoolwork, and share conversation and creative collaboration with their peers. 

The more we talked, the more their sentiments seemed to echo my feelings about the downtown feel that Dansville offers. People who have moved away or have never lived in smaller, close-knit communities are returning “home” to raise their children, start over, and retire.

Denise and George believe that we will see smaller communities in the region, such as Dansville, become exurbs for Rochester and other higher-population -density areas as the nature of work continues to change, with more people working remotely.  During a First Friday visit to MacFadden’s, I enjoyed a cup of Leek Potato Bisque and a grilled cheese sandwich on Texas toast, with an espresso. I sat looking out the window as many people took advantage of the warmer winter weather and strolled Main Street. More people everywhere are starting to discover or rediscover the joys of small-town life. As this demographic change happens, MacFadden Coffee Company will be here, offering residents and visitors to the area a place to gather, to talk, and to celebrate all that Dansville has to offer.