Kate and Mark Morris aren't huge coffee people. Their Staghorn Home & Garden Café sprang from the free java they dispensed while selling Kate Morris' decorative terrariums at I Made It! Market events. They opened Staghorn in December, around the corner from the Greenfield house they share with their son, Sam, who's nearly 2, because they thought the neighborhood could use it.
The building retains the striped awning and exterior mural of former neighborhood fixture Community Drug. Inside, along with locally roasted Zeke's Coffee, Staghorn vends houseplants, organic vegetable seeds, even potting soil and garden tools. (The inspiration was Kate Morris' green thumb.) Some of the shop's vintage furnishings are also for sale, as are greeting cards and handmade candles.
Both spouses have graduate degrees in architecture; Mark Morris left his job as a construction estimator to launch Staghorn. Most customers are from the neighborhood, he says, and the growth in clientele recently convinced them to hire their first employee.
Staghorn opens at 6 a.m. six days a week (7 a.m. on Sundays), and serves treats including Enrico's biscotti and scones. Thursday through Sunday, there's also Enrico's quiche and Soup Nancy soups.
After fielding multiple requests for lattes and the like, the café has added an espresso machine, too. As Mark Morris says, "You hear [the request] five or 10 times a day, you're like, 'Eh, maybe we should get one.'"
