Arise Café & Catering Opens at  merge

‘We are excited to see what God does through this place’

A new restaurant has recently opened at the Emerge Recovery & Trade Initiative campus, with two familiar faces taking the helm.

Although Greg and Shayne Shaffer have worked together for years in the food industry — most recently as managers at the popular nonprofit One Bistro in Xenia — the longtime married couple said it was God’s timing that brought them together again at Emerge, where they recently opened the new Arise Café.

Owned by Emerge cofounders Kip Morris and Chris Adams, the Arise Café is one of the latest amenities on the Emerge campus. Although it is not an official part of the Emerge operation and remains privately owned, it is one of the latest businesses to open on-site to the public.

“We were waiting for God to show us where to go,” Shayne said. “Kip Morris and Chris Adams reached out to us at the end of January about running Arise. We hadn’t thought about starting a café and we liked the idea!”

Chef Greg has more than 25 years of experience in the culinary world as a chef. Additionally, he also has eight years in long-term recovery. He said the idea for opening a cafe started around Thanksgiving time last year.

“Kip and Chris were finding ways to equip this area with the necessary commercial kitchen equipment and asked the question: Why don’t we open a café?” Chef Greg said. “It has worked out well so far.”

Shayne said the possibilities are endless at Arise.

“This place is going to be a central hub for the folks working here, living here and coming here to help, whether it be mentors, sponsors, volunteers or people in recovery,” she said. “This is going to be a place to gather for a lot of activity that can show off what God can do. People coming through here will have all sorts of options … We are excited to see what God’s going to do. How could someone not be excited about something like this?”

Although the cafe is not part of the Emerge Recovery & Trade Initiative, it is an amenity on the Emerge campus which will support the various Emerge programs and allow the public to enjoy meals at affordable prices. Meals are also offered to employees on site daily.

The hours of operation for Arise are Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for breakfast and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch. Eventually, however, they will offer evening and weekend hours.

Catering is also available onsite and offsite.

“We can deliver, or clients can pick up,” Shayne said. “We also currently offer buffet-style events. Menus are still being finalized in the coming weeks and we will have themed buffets, or we can customize them based on customer needs.”

Arise Café will have daily and weekly specials in addition to the menu offerings.

“Folks will be able to order online through the TOAST app and pick up their orders,” Mrs. Shaffer said. “We are also working on having delivery options.”

The daily breakfast menu features a variety of breakfast sandwiches and wraps including their popular steak, egg and cheddar sandwich on a pretzel bun and breakfast burrito stuffed full of eggs, cheese, peppers, onions, sausage and home fries.

“Each of these are sure to satisfy your hunger,” Shayne said. “Our lunch menu features a variety of sandwiches, including the Cuban with beer braised pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese and pickles with a spicy mustard sauce on our toasted Panini bread.  We also have great salads, like our Arise Power Salad and house made soups. Our sides — like our hand cut fries and macaroni and cheese — are all homemade. We will have daily and weekly specials along with some sweet treats.”

For more information about the Arise Café, go to www.thearisecafe.com