In the 19070’s Barb Neubert wrote a book by the title of At Sara’s Table, a name that she would carry throughout the years.  She then converted an old trailer into a traveling espresso shop, which eventually morphed into a brick and mortar store on East Superior St.  After meeting Carla Blumberg, a restaurant owner from Austin Texas and a bona fide Berkely “hippie” the two decided to join forces. They started by moving At Sara’s Table into a building Carla purchased on Park Point.  When plans failed at that location Barb discovered that the historic Taran’s Market Place, situated at 1902 East 8th Street, was for sale. Near two colleges, and at a trafficked intersection, Barb knew the location would be perfect. She was right, though the building had to be taken down to the foundation. 

Carla and Emily Little, an architect friend from Austin designed the new restaurant. Together, they created a dining room with a welcoming flow and tall windows that faced Lake Superior. The high ceiling beams, booths, benches, and the 10’ tall bookshelves in the room called ‘the library,’—a tribute to At Sara’s Table bookstore—were crafted from the wood salvaged from Taran’s Market Place and the Park Point property.

Barb and Carla decided to keep the old Taran’s Market Place sign, a familiar landmark for the community, with a plan that the building would be multi-use and hold various businesses. The plan was short-lived. The Market Place sign led to much confusion from passers-by who came looking for a grocery store only to find a restaurant. For Barb, the name At Sara’s Table was a tribute to her novel, the coffee truck, and her bookstore/coffee house. She felt it important to keep a recognizable and reputable name in order to bring along her clientele. Then, together, the two chose the name Chester Creek Café, signaling the restaurant’s location. Thus, the business ended up with three names, when it opened on October 17th, 2002.

ASTCCC’s initial menu included soups, salads, bakery items, and coffee drinks, with the new owners’ basing their business expectations on their solo forays of the past. Nothing prepared them for the immediate and immense popularity of the Café. Carla prepped, line cooked, and did the ordering, hiring, and scheduling, while Barb managed all the front-of-the-house operations. Everyone pitched in where needed; dishwashing, closing, prepping, and running to the grocery store when food ran out. Servers used paper tickets, credit card sales were “rung up” on carbon copy paper, and called in over the phone at night. “We were just learning the hard way, all the way through,” said Barb.

When a hot breakfast and lunch menu debuted, The Hippie Farm Breakfast, (inspired by Carla’s farm days), was the first permanent (and still remaining!) item on the menu. In time, Carla envisioned adding a dinner service of haute cuisine similar to the offerings at her restaurant in Austin. She hired Bruce Wallis, a classically trained chef, who set the stage for things to come with his unique flavor combinations. 

The Café’s increasing popularity and standing in the community created a need for more physical space. Originally, prep cooking, baking, line cooking, and dishwashing all occurred within the view of customers. It was a tight squeeze. The first order of expansion became an official prep room, allowing space to prepare higher volumes of food. Next, the patio was doubled to its current size. The additional tables were a blessing, though Duluth’s notoriously changeable weather sent servers chasing airborne menus, guest checks, and even oversized deck umbrellas down the street. A big change came about when the basement was redesigned to house both the bakery, and a private room to be used for book clubs, parties, and meetings. The following years brought more changes; the kitchen was bumped outward into the newly expanded parking lot. Rita Bergstad, built and planted the first ASTCCC garden at one end of the lot, near where Barb housed a genuine Texas smoker she’d bought.

*Did you know? There are no lines painted in the parking lot because it is four inches short of having two legal-sized rows down the center. Committing that much space would have required the beautiful maple tree by the garden to be cut down.

When Barb and Carla’s only tenant, a real estate company, moved out of the restaurant, Barb changed the space into an intimate dark-hued bar with booths. The bar opened in 2009, with a license to serve beer and wine. They aimed to serve sustainable wines from producers operating with organic and/or biodynamic farming and winemaking practices. They also sought out women-owned and operated companies and winemakers. Eventually, the restaurant obtained a full liquor license, opening the door to cocktails and mocktails.

In 2014, Carla designed and built a multi-use building and garden on 19th Ave, kitty-corner from Café. The corner once held a Standard gas station, followed by an architectural firm. By the time Carla tore down the building, the city considered the land a polluted “brown site.” In order to repair the damage, Carla had the contaminated soil removed and brought in clean fill. The city awarded her for Brown Field Remediation. 

In an effort to remediate the soil, Carla decided to create a garden. Rita Bergstedt, and Darcey Douglass, built the three-tiered Chester Garden. The space is large enough to keep two gardeners busy, but the amount of food it produces barely makes a dent in the needs of the busy restaurant. As a result, Rita chose to plant difficult-to-source vegetables. “I felt that there were items that would thrive in this environment, and yet be unusual and a welcome addition to the Café’s offerings,” she said. Chester Garden reliably produces an array of blueberries and unique vegetable varieties that the chefs love to showcase in summer Garden Specials.

Chester Garden and the Café’s parking lot garden add beauty while repairing two tiny corners of the city. They are not moneymakers, and their impact on local environmental health is minuscule, but like most of the restaurant’s practices, the gardens demonstrate that the personal is political. The restaurant has composted food scraps from day one, eventually becoming a compost collection site for the neighborhood (and offering free compostable bags, available at the coffee bar!). The toilets are low flush, and the lights are on sensors to reduce electricity usage. Even the restroom toilet paper is a sustainably harvested product so as not to add to deforestation. These small quiet choices, unseen by most, exemplify the guiding principles of ASTCCC.

*Did you know? Barb and Carla have donated to nearly 300 different local organizations over the years, many on a yearly basis.  

In 2018, Carla designed a remodel that would ‌boost the restaurant’s efficiency and solve multiple problems; more restrooms, increased cooler and freezer space, new equipment, and an upgraded dishwashing area, as well as a third-floor conference room that showcases a fabulous lake view. The remodel timing was unfortunate as it was just 2 months before the start of the pandemic.  Through the staff and managers’ hard work, ingenuity  and flexibility the cafe survived the pandemic and continues to grow and evolve to this day.

20 Years in 2022

Carla’s original goal with ASTCCC was to be of service to her community by providing jobs and supporting farmers. Barb’s goal was born of feminist ideals which led her to promote women’s upward mobility. Their shared and overlapping values created the unique framework that is ASTCCC. 

When Barb thinks back over the past 20 years of owning and running the restaurant, she says, “It has given me purpose, been fun, and added color to my life. It’s something to put in my obituary. We have made a lot of friends and have contributed to the community we live in.” Carla, ever the practical Virgo, says “I am glad that I finally was able to learn how to cook here–after 40 years of trying. This place is my chance to make a dent in the world, this little corner.” Carla and Barb’s “dent in the world” is a beautiful legacy of supporting local farmers and community, creating jobs, and nurturing women leaders, and—oh yeah—serving up delicious food! 

*Based on excepts from At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe 20th Anniversary Cookbook