Cornell needed a little Rise & Shine in the mornings

By Ginna Young

Who ever thought that Cornell would have not only a coffee house, but one with a drive-thru, to boot? That’s exactly what you get with Rise & Shine Coffee House, located at 609 Bridge Street.

Abigail “Abby” Klein owns the establishment, in partnership with her twin sister, Emily “Emmy” (Klein) Lewallen. The 2017 Cornell High School graduates have proved they have what it takes to run a successful business...or two...or three, but they didn’t start out with the intention of having a coffee house.

Emmy went to school for criminal justice, during which time, she starting baking fancy goods and selling them online, under the name Em’inent Desserts. The macarons, cake pops and decorative cookies garnered a large following.

As for Abby, after she had her son, she knew she wanted to stay home, so she created her own business, Beautiful Darling Boutique, which provided trendy and stylish clothing through online shopping. Eventually, Abby outgrew her home business, while Emmy’s orders continued to pour in as she baked from home.

“We decided to combine all the things that we like,” said Abby.

The two looked around their hometown and settled on what was a former restaurant many times over, closing on the property last October. From then on, they, with help from family, did extensive renovations before they were able to open this spring.

“It took a lot longer than we thought,” said Abby, adding that supply issues were a huge obstacle.

Despite the long wait, the public excitedly (and impatiently) waited for the opening of the coffee house, drooling over sneak peak social media posts of specialty drinks and pastries.

“The community for years now – and us included – we’re like, oh, you have to go so far to get a good coffee,” said Katie Klein, mother of the twins/coffee house employee.

To prepare for the opening, they went to coffee houses far and near, to see what was good or what amount of caramel was needed. That’s when they learned that there is no standard drink, as every coffee shop makes it a different way.

“It’s really interesting, actually, to see,” said Katie. Included in the hot/iced specialty drinks Rise & Shine creates on order, are the Fireside Mocha (blended caramel frappe), The Finley Frappe (no coffee, vanilla frappe), The Abigail (cold brew coffee over milk, with caramel sauce) and The Emily (oat milk chai tea latte).

For the food side of the menu, such offerings include The Nana Bagel (plain bagel topped with warm peanut butter and fresh-sliced banana, lightly drizzled with honey), a breakfast burrito, an English muffin sandwich, a chicken salad croissant, a turkey and cheddar panini, and homemade creamy chicken tortellini.

For the sweet tooth in you, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, scones and doughnuts are on display, showing off heaps of frosting, while the Em’inent trays feature delicate creations of macarons, cake pops and cupcakes, that are snapped up, almost before they are placed in the display case.

The recipes come from – where else – the family, in keeping with the theme of the coffee house.

“I use a lot of my grandma’s [recipes], but then the Em’inent Desserts stuff are my recipes,” said Emmy.

To keep up with all the demand, Emmy gets to the coffee house early every morning, where she makes the day’s baked goods in just two hours.

“Before we started, I was five hours, six hours, but now I have a routine,” she said. “I’ve gotten pretty fast.”

After her shift is over, Emmy makes Em’inent orders for weekends of weddings, showers and parties, while Abby restocks the boutique, which is quite popular with youth and adults, alike.

The business is truly family-run, with most of the 10 employees related in some way to the twins.

“We would go from seeing our cousins just at family things, now they’re here every day,” said Abby.

It could be that cozy feeling that brings people in the doors to sit and chat, or even for events.

“We have quite a few groups that come and have meetings here,” said Abby.

Even though the charming cafe is a draw, perhaps an even bigger draw is the long-awaited drive-thru, which has proven very popular. Katie says she and the twins saw the vision of the drive-thru when they looked at the property, and the need for it.

“You can tell people wanted it and they’re being really supportive,” said Katie.

Now that they have some time under their belts, Emmy wants to branch out and do cookie decorating classes, while Abby wants to open up the business to more community events. They also want to institute a rewards program to thank their loyal customers and are looking at a mobile ordering site through an app.

“We have a good spot and we have a good community for it,” said Abby.

[caption id="attachment_175907" align="alignnone" width="300"] Making up the main team running the Rise & Shine Coffee House, left to right, are pastry chef Emily Lewallen, owner Abigail Klein and her son, Grayson Hetke, and the twin sisters’ mom, Katie Klein. There are also numerous family members who pitch in every day, with their hard work obvious in the newly remodeled building. Photo by Ginna Young[/caption]   [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="115"] Modeling the offerings of Beautiful Darling Boutique, Savanna Sandberg is the cousin of the Klein twins, and a frequent shopper at the clothing shop above the Rise & Shine sitting area.[/caption]   [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="241"] As a cousin, Faith Blaisdell not only greets customers with a smile, but shows off the treats that Rise & Shine has for sale. Other non-food items include earrings and handmade keychains.[/caption]