Sweet Beet Cafe temporarily closed for post-fire reconstruction
Photo of damage caused by a fire that broke out in Sweet Beet Kitchen on February 18th.
As many have heard, there was a fire at 11 West Main st, home of Sweet Beet, on Tuesday, February 18th. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the fire was contained. We extend our gratitude to Sweet Beet staff members Cassie and Micayla for noticing the fire and taking quick action, the first responders, and Bradford, Henniker, Warner, and New London fire departments for their efficient work in stopping the spread of the fire.
Our kitchen will be temporarily closed for an undetermined amount of time as we undergo repairs.
As you can see from the photos, the back wall of the kitchen incurred significant damage, as well as structural damage to the building that makes it difficult to know when repairs will be completed.
We hope to reopen the Cafe in 2-3 weeks, but this will depend on the reconstruction timeline which is currently unknown.
During this closure we will sadly not be able to offer any food to order on the weekends, but there will be some grab n go options from friends like Blue Loon Bakery (YUM!!), hot coffee and tea, and the community room will be partially open for you to sit and enjoy.
Saying goodbye to produce lost from smoke contamination
Sweet Beet Market is still open with our regular winter hours, Weds-Fri 11am-5pm and Sat-Sun 9am-4pm and we welcome your smiling faces! There’s a lot of local goodness to enjoy plus the community vibe that energizes our work and makes sure that nobody has to suffer through hardships, or even just the normal ups and downs of daily life, alone.
Sadly we lost a lot of our storage veggies alongside other food items throughout the market due to smoke contamination. While this has been incredibly heartbreaking to say goodbye to pounds and pounds of beautiful food, our local farmers have stepped in and helped us stock back up with what they have available and in season.
We are absolutely blown away by this outreach of support from the community, from local businesses like the Appleseed, Blue Loon Bakery, and Micro Mama’s offering their kitchens and goods, to our distributors at Sweet Beet like Coastline Seafood reaching out to see how they can help and Food Connects giving 10% off our order this week and bringing “emotional support donuts”. This is what the work is all about - showing up for each other through thick and thin.
We are terribly sorry for the inconvenience and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support and continued understanding during this time!
Give back in the February Food Drive
Our February Food Drive is still running through the end of the month and we highly encourage you to give what you can to support neighbors needing a hand putting food on the table.
Sweet Beet Market + Cafe are both programs of the Kearsarge Food Hub, and we’re a nonprofit working to expand food access for all, among other key initiatives. The February Food Drive is an annual opportunity to harness the power of collective action to ensure nobody goes hungry.
You can help by:
Buying 3+ food drive items at Sweet Beet Market EVERY time you shop this month for 10% off your entire purchase
Nonperishable items like pasta, beans, and grains collected through the food drive fuel a year-round food donations program that serves thousands of neighbors, complementing the fresh produce and prepared meals we send to 7+ food pantries and our Community FREEdge. Thank you for making this community care possible.