In 1988, on our first trip to Cedar Key, this establishment was known as Cook's Cafe. Locals and visitors considered it the place to go for a decent breakfast!
Down through the years, it changed ownership several times and for awhile it stood vacant. To see the site of many happy memories sit idle was unhappy for us.
Then, in October of last year, Michelle renovated the building and set up her own cafe, called The Gathering Place. What a job she has done! It is clean and neat and the food is "home-cooked" by a chef who wants nothing more than to tease your palate with delight!
We had lunch. It was delicious. And the staff could not be nicer. Michelle was warm and friendly as was Donna Risker, a native of Cedar Key (pictured in the last photo). Michelle is also a very fine photographer, and you'll note she's standing in front of two of her photos of the old "Honeymoon Cottage," a Cedar Key icon. We remember when the cottage was mostly intact and it's sad to see it gradually disappearing into the water. Now, it's almost gone.
By the way, Donna is a graduate of the Cedar Key School, a photo of which was posted yesterday.
You can check out their website here.
Addendum: Michelle saw this post and gave us a thumbs-up. She also clarified some of the information and added to it. I'm afraid we did not give enough credit to a couple of people, so I'm posting some of what Michelle said:
As
far as the renovations here, they were actually mostly done by the
building's owner, Beth Davis, who owns/runs the Quilt Shop in the
building. We, my husband and I, just spruced the place up a bit ...
added some more paint, the tablecloths, napkins, and the Caribbean Blue
touches (napkins, window sides, etc). Beth also had the small partition
brought in near her door up front.
The
restaurant is actually my husband's baby who had been in restaurant for
years, and I just came along for the ride. ;-). He's the cook and has
all the knowledge.
Thank you, Michellle, and we wish you a long and happy career at The Gathering Place!
