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Chestnut Tree offers community and collaboration
11:37 AM
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Chestnut Tree offers
community and collaboration
By Kristen Watson
The bell attached to the Chestnut
Tree’s door dings once again and owner Valeree Clegg perks up as she sees the
new customer. Her eyes light up and a smile creeps to her face as she gets up
to greet the new arrival.
Clegg opened the Chestnut Tree with
her mother in 1994. The Chestnut Tree started out as a teahouse or tearoom with
seven tables and today is a full service restaurant that offers over 30 teas
and a full food menu to her customers.
“My mother and I opened the
business and were 50/50 partners,” Clegg said. “She passed away in April. It
will be two years in April. Family owned businesses are going by the wayside.
There’s just not that many anymore and I think that’s what makes me special.”
The Chestnut Tree doesn’t have an
average customer, Clegg said. With customers ranging from young adults to a
96-year-old customer that’s been coming for 20 years.
Terri Guthrie has been a Chestnut
Tree customer for over 10 years and considers it her go-to place to bring out
of town guests.
“I do know Valeree personally and I
always speak to her when I come in and see her smiling face,” Guthrie said. “I
think she’s done a great job with this place. She keeps it really trendy and
the food is always delicious.”
The restaurant bakes their own
pies, cakes and cookies and serves them in a glass case in the front. Clegg
said the thumbprint cookies and chocolate pie are some fan favorites.
Before opening the Chestnut Tree
with her mother, Clegg held an office job that didn’t allow her to socialize
much.
“My favorite part about owning the
business is getting to meet the people I get to meet,” Clegg said. “I had an
office job before this and it never really gave me the chance to meet the
customer base, it’s not just the customer base, it’s the community. You get to
meet the people in the community and you get to know people in the community
that I would never have otherwise.”
This attitude is one that keeps her
longtime customers coming back. Clegg mentioned that a group from Austin was
coming to Denton the following weekend just to come to her tearoom.
Suzanne Johnson is the Chestnut
Tree’s chef and before that was a longtime customer of the restaurant. She
loves working in the kitchen and thinks one of the coolest aspects of the
restaurant is their collaboration with other small businesses.
“We have a server named Ryan, who’s
known Scott from Audacity for many, many pears,” Johnson said. “So, when they
came into town and wanted to open a brewery, she introduced us to him and we’ve
developed a friendship.”
The Chestnut Tree offers growlers,
empty beer bottles, that can be filled up with one of their local beers on tap
and taken home. Clegg loves the fact that her business is a small business that
is family owned and takes every opportunity to assist others in the area.
“We had a beer dinner with
[Audacity] in December and we roasted a pig and paired their beers with our
food and that sort of thing,” Johnson said. “So, we have a friendship, a
partnership, but more than that, we are local businesses taking care of each
other.”
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Icy Businesses
1:37 PM
ICY BUSINESSES
By Kristen Watson
When snow and ice roll in to most towns in Texas, the entire town shuts down. In downtown Denton, it is an entirely different story. With the majority of shops and restaurants choosing to remain open, including local favorites J&J’s Pizza and West Oak Coffee, Denton is a haven for those who love to explore the winter wonderland but also want something fresh and hot.
Jeremy Ottens, a barista at West Oak Coffee, had to work during both ice days but felt it was a good business decision for the shop.
“Yesterday we were only open from 1:30-6:30,” Ottens said. “I think what ended up happening is that they said there was a lot of people during that little trial period of time like our place filled up and so honestly people just wanted coffee So, they decided to go ahead and open and I mean it’s pretty evident they want to be here so I think it was a good decision.”
Carlee Niemeyer and Dafne Rojas were just two of the many customers who braved the snow and ice to snag a table at West Oak on Tuesday afternoon.
Niemeyer and Rojas both complained of cabin fever, thus their trek to the downtown area in search of a place to study.
Niemeyer was “really glad that the coffee shop [was] open so that [they] could come” but felt that businesses should take into consideration how far a worker must travel to work before deciding to remain open or not.
The packed house at West Oak buzzed with life and coffee grinders as the world outside remained frozen.
A few doors down, J&J’s Pizza’s open sign was also glowing bright.
Daniel Villanueva, an employee of J&J’s Pizza was working the storefront on that frozen Tuesday, although he had no say in whether or not the store opened.
“Our owner Jamie Ham decided. He’s been here for awhile so he knows that people kind of wander on the square just to see what businesses are open,” Villanueva said.
Mostly groups of friends and families came in to J&J’s for some hot pizza and some even came just for a warm place to play chess.
Laura Drapac was sitting with Ron Lechler as she told him the story of her falling on the ice, even though she is from Ohio, where weather like this is quite common.
“I slipped down the stairs at my house,” Drapac said. “Even being from someplace that this normally happens, you still know something stupid is going to happen. So, just be as careful as you can and go enjoy yourself.”
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