New 5th and Elm Coffee House opens in Hancock

5th and Elm Coffee House owner Frank Fiala helps Barrista Lisa Erickson keep the floor spotless in his new business, the second 5th and Elm Coffee House, located near the Scott Hotel in Hancock, on the site of the former Spice of Life bakery and lunch shop. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photos © 2009 Keweenaw Now)

By Michele Bourdieu

HANCOCK, CALUMET --Calumet's 5th and Elm Coffee House now has a second location. The new café, bearing the same name, opened on June 15, 2009, on the site of the former Spice of Life bakery, near the Scott Hotel in Hancock.

Frank Fiala of Hancock calls the 5th and Elm a family business, including also his wife, Emily Fiala, and Boone Fiala, their son, in the ownership and management of the two shops.

A day before Father's Day, Emily Fiala, co-owner of the Hancock 5th and Elm Coffee House, chats with customer Michael Bowler of Hancock and admires his three-month-old daughter, Susan Marie, one of the youngest visitors to the shop. Pictured at far right is Matt Sanford, barrista.

"After my retirement from the National Park Service, I decided I wanted to do something in business," Fiala said. "Boone was in California at the time and wanted to come back to the area. We've always been interested in coffee, so we decided to open up a coffee shop in Calumet."

The original 5th and Elm opened in Calumet in March 8, 2008, for the Great Bear Chase cross-country ski races.* Fiala noted he and his family have been encouraged by that business the last 16 months and by the potential growth in Calumet.

The original 5th and Elm Coffee House opened March 8, 2008, for the Great Bear Chase ski races at Swedetown Trails in Calumet.*

"When this one became available, we decided it was a good opportunity to grow the business," he explained.

Fiala noted the former Spice of Life was primarily a lunch business with take-out, which he is continuing with the addition of a wide variety of coffee drinks, including espresso.

"With our coffee here we're trying to expand the hours," he added.

Presently the Hancock 5th and Elm is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Hancock 5th and Elm Barrista Lisa Erickson rings up lunch orders for customers Marti Rashleigh of Painesdale and Phillip Shanahan of Hancock. Both work at Miller's Jewelry in Hancock, a short walk from the new café.

Former Spice of Life customers still come to the new 5th and Elm for sandwiches at lunchtime.

One of those, Marti Rashleigh of Painesdale, whose favorite is the turkey sandwich, seemed pleased with the addition of the coffee selections.

"I drink coffee every day," she said.

Frank Fiala noted the sandwiches are mostly the same type formerly served at the Spice of Life, but he has added ham and turkey from Nueski's Smoke House in Wisconsin.

Barrista Lisa Erickson commutes six days a week from Toivola to her new job at the Hancock 5th and Elm.

"I have an espresso maker at home, but it's nowhere near the caliber of this 'Italiano' espresso maker," Erickson noted. "I'm learning how to make new concoctions every day!"

Calumet, Hancock 5th and Elm cafés have similar menus

Boone Fiala, who does double duty as manager and barrista at the Calumet 5th and Elm, said the coffee in both shops (Ancora Coffee) comes from Madison, Wis., and the beans are imported from various countries all over the world, but especially from South America.

Boone Fiala, manager and barrista, prepares a Capuccino at the Calumet 5th and Elm Coffee House.

"Black and Tan is our house coffee," Boone said. "It's a 50-50 mix of a medium roast and a dark roast."

While the original 5th and Elm has been mostly a Coffee House (complete with occasional poetry readings and art exhibits), sandwiches are now being added to the menu to match those at the Hancock shop.

One 5th and Elm barrista with a familiar face -- Matt Sanford, raised in Toivola and now of Hancock -- is proud of his coffee-making experience. Local coffee lovers will recognize him as a barrista of the former Motherlode Café, where he worked until it closed a few years ago. He worked at the Calumet 5th and Elm Coffee House and recently moved to Hancock. Now it's convenient for him to be making coffee at the new shop near his home.

Matt Sanford, barrista, worked at the former Motherlode in Houghton, at the Calumet 5th and Elm and is now at the Hancock 5th and Elm. Sanford said he also had coffee-making experience at exclusive cafés in Chicago.

"I'm just happy to have good coffee here for my own selfish purposes," Sanford said. "I moved down here because Calumet has a lot of snow."

Sanford said he's neither a skier nor a snowmobiler.

"I'm a shoveler," he quipped.

He's also an artist and hopes to have an exhibit of his paintings eventually in one of the two cafés.

The Calumet 5th and Elm exhibits works by local artists as well as hosting poetry readings. Pictured here are photos by Brockit Photography.

Two new employees at the Hancock 5th and Elm were busy in the kitchen on Wednesday, June 24. Mike Laitila of Hancock, son of Hancock Mayor William Laitila and Daryl Laitila of PastyNet (who is working on creating the new 5th and Elm Web site), was making sandwiches, while La Naeh Holmbo of Boston Location was cleaning shelves.

Mike Laitila of Hancock, sandwich expert, learns his way around the kitchen on his first day of work (June 24) at the new 5th and Elm shop in Hancock.

"This is our first day," Holmbo said. "So far it's fantastic!"

La Naeh Holmbo of Boston Location, who formerly worked in an espresso shop in California, puts a shine on the Hancock café's kitchen shelves.

Both 5th and Elm shops now serve Jilbert's ice cream -- great on these hot days!

Boone Fiala noted while the Calumet café is adding sandwiches from the Hancock 5th and Elm's menu, the Hancock shop is offering "pretty much everything we do up here -- coffee (including espresso drinks), bakery, ice cream, wireless Internet."

Katie Jo Wright and Julie DePaul Johnson make the baked goods for both shops.

As Boone spoke, a Calumet customer, Hunter Watson, closed his laptop and finished his chicken artichoke florentine soup.

"Everything was excellent," Watson said. "The atmosphere is very nice. The Internet access is very convenient. The food and the soup are invariably good."

Dave Freeman of Calumet and John Westerinen of Mohawk, regular customers at the Calumet 5th and Elm, sat at a table outside, where Westerinen had parked his 1929 Model A Ford, which seemed to fit the historic atmosphere of Calumet's Fifth Street. Both were drinking a strong-looking brew.

Regular customers at the Calumet 5th and Elm, Dave Freeman, left (background) and John Westerinen take a coffee break on the terrace, sheltered from the rain, before taking a ride in Westerinen's 1929 Model A Ford.

Westerinen said of the house coffee, "It's a little stronger than what I'm used to, but I like the kick."

Freeman was enthusiastic about his espresso decaf: "It's out of sight!" he said.

Hours at the Calumet 5th and Elm are still Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.; and Sunday, 12 Noon - 6 p.m. Check them out during Pasty Fest this weekend!

* Editor's Note: Keweenaw Now posted photos of the Calumet 5th and Elm when it opened in March 2008. See our March 15, 2008 photo essay.