Triple threat café

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (18/01/12) Proud new owner Greg Sheridan of Cafe Sans Souci opened the doors to his cafe on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. This locally owned business offers catering, a banquet hall for 150 people, and of course the cafe. "We make 90 per cent of the ingredients," says Sheridan, including his grandfathers recipe for Pa Pere mustard. Photo by Brynn Campbell.

By: Carlee Schmidt

Once again, 240 Front St. in Belleville is home to a new venue.

The building, located in Belleville’s downtown core, was owned by Shoppers Drug Mart. In November of 2008, it was taken over by Glenn Mifsud who did some renovations and opened up a yoga studio called The Tenth Ox, a centre for wellness and spirituality.

In March 2011, The Tenth Ox closed and the building was purchased by award-winning caterer Greg Sheridan. During renovations to the building, the ceiling and bathrooms were redone, a back entrance and commercial kitchen were built, the electrical work was upgraded and everything was painted.

Spiffed up and ready to go, the doors to Café Sans Souci and Sans Souci Special Occasion Centre opened up Jan. 18. The café, open from Monday to Saturday, offers breakfast and lunch and will soon be offering wireless Internet.

There are a couple of cafés on Front Street. The only difference is that this café has a triple threat. Ninety per cent of the food sold at the café is homemade, including fresh sandwiches, family recipe mustard and more.

Café Sans Souci is not only a spacious café for people to hang out, but it is also host to a 150-person banquet hall in the back. Sheridan is going to be a busy man running the new café, the banquet centre and continuing with his well-known catering service.

“Running a catering business is more profitable because you know how many people you are cooking for whereas with a restaurant, you have to estimate the amount needed for the day,” said Sheridan.

“The fact that it is three businesses in one is what separates this café from others and makes it unique,” said Sheridan.

He wants this new location to help take care of his clients so they can be carefree, hence the name of his company, Sans Souci, which is French for “carefree or without worry.”

Sheridan has gone from working out of a garage packed with equipment for the past 13 years to this new location. It is a big change.

“My legs are very tired,” said Sheridan. “The kitchen is three times the size of the one I was working out of in my garage and things that used to be two feet away are now further away. It’s a lot more moving around at work.”

He studied hotel restaurant management at Loyalist College as well as advanced chef training at George Brown College. In 1994, Sheridan opened his own catering business.

He has worked as a chef at various hotels and has won the Intelligencer’s Readers’ Choice Award for best caterer numerous times, including 2011.

After 17 years of business, Sheridan said his catering business “has been a long evolution.”