Popular cafe in Woodstock's downtown closes

A sign was posted on the door of
Bistro 610 on Tuesday morning
informing the public that the cafe was
closed "effective immediately" and
thanking customers for their patronage

WOODSTOCK-What had become a hub of the community within months of its opening closed its doors last week.

Bistro 610, formerly Fusion Cafe, unexpectedly closed for good on Tuesday, July 10th.

The closure of Bistro 610 caught many by surprise - the only indicator of the business closing up shop was a sign in the window stating that Bistro 610 was closed "effective immediately," and thanking customers for their patronage.

Ray Kierstead, owner of Bistro 610, told the Bugle-Observer that the bistro was closed for business reasons.

"In today's environment and economy, operating a restaurant like Bistro 610 costs a lot of money," Kierstead said. "There are costs associated [with] running a business like that."

"Profits have to exceed that, and unfortunately, they didn't."

Kierstead realizes the bistro's closure will have an impact on Woodstock's downtown core. But he remains hopeful that the space will not remain vacant for long.

"There will be another business, quite possibly a restaurant, in there soon," Kierstead told the Bugle-Observer. "I'm optimistic and I'm sure that will happen."

"It will just have a different face than the one we closed."

Bistro 610 (formerly Fusion) - A fixture of the
Woodstock town square since 2006.

Woodstock town councillor Randy Leonard was a frequent customer at Bistro 610. He told the Bugle-Observer about going there every morning with friends for coffee and to do crossword puzzles.

"It was a real social thing for us," Leonard said. "There were other groups that came in later in the morning after us."

"In the evenings, they had music, and it was great," he recalled. "[The closure is] just unfortunate."

He added that he feels the loss of Bistro 610 is going to hurt downtown business. Being a town councillor and former Woodstock mayor, this is something Leonard understands.

"It was quite unique, the restaurant and what they had there," Leonard told the Bugle-Observer. "There was a bar there and good food and they always seemed to have a lot of entertainment at night."

"Its going to put a bit of a drag on downtown Woodstock."

Geoff Stairs was also a regular at Bistro 610. Stairs, who serves as president of the River Valley Arts Alliance (RiVA), believes Bistro 610 was important to the community, and always played a role in the programming with the Dooryard Arts Festival, which he helps organize.

The fourth annual Dooryard Arts Festival is scheduled to take place from August 8th to August 11th, and the scheduling will need to be tweaked to accommodate seven artists who were going to perform at Bistro 610, Stairs told the Bugle-Observer.

"In terms of programming, we won't lose any programming. There will just be some shifting that will have to happen," Stairs said, remaining optimistic that other venues will be found for these performers.

Mayor Art Slipp sees the bistro's closure as a huge loss to the community.

SLIPP

"I think it had become a major focal point for the students at the community college and a number of our working professionals," Slipp said. "It was a gathering place."

Slipp added that the internet cafe aspect of the business was a unique type of restaurant for the town. The mayor was sure to note the amount of entertainment provided by musicians who were coming through the area while on tour.

"[Bistro 610 provided an] opportunity to see great entertainment and that's something that the community is going to greatly miss," Slipp told the Bugle-Observer.

Slipp said that the bistro also served as a place for artists to show their work.

"It had provided an outlet for different artists in the area to display their work, so in terms of the integration in the arts community, the bistro had played a major role in providing a place where the community could gather, discuss the work and socialize," Slipp explained.

Slipp went on to explain that Bistro 610's closure will be a major disappointment for its patrons, and a setback for downtown Woodstock, as it attracted people to the downtown core in evenings and on weekends.

"It will take a while for us to determine what the impact [will be] on the downtown, but its certainly going to be a tremendous loss," Mayor Slipp commented.

Bistro 610 originally opened in 2006 under the name Fusion Cafe. In the fall of 2011, Fusion relocated in the former Needs Convenience store, adjacent to its former home. The new location would provide twice the square footage, improving Fusion's ability to host entertainment.

Founder and manager Tracie Jones explained the cafe's original concept, which was to provide nontraditional food, which included fair trade coffee, tea and home baked goods while using as much local product as possible to support the local community and offer a healthy selection of food.

Though Jones thinks everyone would say that the restaurant's specialty was cheesecake, she feels that the specialty was centered more around building relationships while operating a type of neighborhood cafe where everyone was welcome.

She added that art and music becoming a larger part of Fusion (later Bistro 610) seemed fitting as it promoted individuality and creativity, while also promoting local talents and providing them with a place where they could be seen and heard.

"I can't even tell you how much joy I have derived over the years and feel very blessed to have met so many local, national and international talents," Jones told the Bugle-Observer.

Culture was just as important a part of Fusion as food and entertainment. A number of different cultural holidays were acknowledged at the cafe with dinners and music traditional to cultures.

Jones recalled being able to employ staff that she could stand behind.

"I had a staff that I trusted impeccably, and I respected," Jones noted. "We prided ourselves on loyalty and hard work, and [on a few occasions] when my health was less than stable, they really rose to the top and took care of everything without being asked, nor did they have their hands out for rewards."

-- With files from the Bugle-Observer - Friday, June 13, 2012 issue --