Joining the Liberty Street corridor and business community, Cafe Little Treasure, a new local eatery founded by husband and wife Erica Forneret and Chris Hajek, marked its first official week of business with a soft opening for the greater community on March 27. The new business is currently located at 45 Liberty Street.

“We’re feeling really great. Really tired. It’s been a wild week. But it’s been so much fun,” said Forneret. “I think we met more people in this past week than we’ve met in the four years that we’ve been in Newburgh and that’s been awesome. This is definitely our first time having our own restaurant,” said Hajek.

The name of the newly-opened cafe was inspired, according to the couple, from their 14 year old pitbull Little Treasure aka LT, who was featured on several of the menus. Hajek, who hails from Chicago, and Forneret, who hails from Los Angeles, have been a part of the entertainment and hospitality industry for some time. They previously ran a nonprofit music and arts venue in the Los Angeles area from 2009 to 2014. “The most gratifying aspect of what we had done before with that venue in LA was the community building, seeing our friends and neighbors feeding people, making people feel nourished and enriched. But creating environments that are super comfortable and inviting,” said Hajek.

While living in Chicago, the couple were able to find cafes and small eateries that they frequented and enjoyed spending time in. For the couple, spaces where people could hang out, meet with friends, do work, eat a good meal, read, play some games or just sit is what type of environment they hoped to bring.

“I think a lot of the inspiration for the menu for Cafe Little Treasure has come from our travels, but also just the way that we really like to eat, and so a lot of the inspiration and the flavors are from travels through Italy and Spain, and then kind of like putting them all together into the things that we really crave and that really make us feel like we’re on vacation even when we’re at home,” said Forneret. “A travel adventure through your food.”

Several years later, the couple moved to the City of Newburgh and were looking to bring what they had done back in Los Angeles and seen in Chicago to the Newburgh area. Initially, the couple had considered starting the business together as a food truck instead of sit down space. However, the COVID pandemic soon followed when the couple moved, and immediately the country went into lockdown.

During the lockdown period, Forneret reflected on being at home with Hajek and her sister and future brother-in-law all under the same roof. In the beginning, it was a period of adjustment all being under one roof but in time, the couples made it through and even more enjoyed and shared meals together. Even during the pandemic, Forneret became active as a member of the Newburgh Arts and Cultural Commission where she would meet more members of the community and along with Hajek, they own and operate an entertainment venue known as The Spruces located at 328 North Street.

When the couple saw that the space adjacent to Toasted was available for rent, which has since began to operate more as a nighttime venue, they decided to take a leap of faith and settled into the space. With the warmer weather coming, the cafe will look to utilize the outdoor seating area for events and possible brunch periods. Creating this new business, Forneret referenced Rob’s Roast Coffees, also located on Liberty Street, that had closed and people shared to her that they had missed grabbing a coffee on that end of Liberty Street.

For the couple, the cafe offers daily meal options, at fair and reasonable prices, while being sustainability conscientious. With the additional feedback from their customers, the couple are looking to experiment with their menu and to add new dishes as the business grows. For now the couple are mainly preparing and serving the food. Online ordering, private events, catering, corporate events hosting and additional merchandising are all to be considered and worked on in the coming weeks.

“I want to like spread the love and get the love back from our greater Hudson Valley Community. But we also want to be here for the people that are right here, right down the street from us,” said Forneret.

“Come, come and eat,” said Hajek. Patrons and customers can learn more about the cafe and browse the menu at their website, www.cafelittletreasure.com and their Instagram page @cafelittletreasure.