New DeliCafé opens in Fairhaven
Catering services also offered

 

If mouth-watering aromas are any indication, Fairhaven’s newest café should be a rousing success. Nancy D’Anna-Schaffer and her husband Mark came here from the San José area five years ago to help Nancy’s brother with D’Anna’s Café Italiano on State Street. Like so many others, they fell in love with Bellingham and decided to stay. Now, they have opened D’Anna’s DeliCafé and Catering Company at 1307 11th Street.

Featuring a wide selection of imported meats and cheeses, the new business will also offer some favorites from the downtown restaurant.

Helping out at the Café Italiano is the only formal restaurant experience Nancy and Mark bring to the job, but Nancy is quick to point out that the D’Anna’s have been involved with food, one way or another, for five generations.

She points to a black-and-white photo on the wall.

“My aunt started writing down recipes when she was five,” Nancy said. “Now we have a huge archive.”

She and Mark decided they couldn’t do exactly what they wanted in a full-service restaurant, so they chose the deli/café concept. In addition, they will offer a range of catering services in conjunction with the restaurant.

Finding just the right location was no easy task. Many of the places they scouted were just too expensive.

“You can still get a good deal in Fairhaven,” Nancy said, “but we had to make a very quick decision.”

The feel-good ambiance of Fairhaven and the cohesive merchants association also played a part in choosing the location.

As the name D’Anna would indicate, much of the fare is southern Italian, but there are taste treats from other places, as well. How about crab cakes or piroshki with your pasta and meatballs? There’s an assortment of soups, salads and sandwiches for lunch and they’re open early enough for breakfast.

Hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays. They will close at 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Two employees will be helping out and Nancy said they hired people who had skills she and Mark lacked. One of the staffers recently graduated from Bellingham Technical College with a certificate in baking.

Soon, you will be able to enjoy beer or wine with your meal and you can top it all off with some truly tempting desserts and espresso.