Former Manhattanites Nicole Bassis and Raoul Koopman are giving new meaning to the phrase “mother lode.”
The husband-and-wife team launched Cafe Mutsi, a mother-inspired all-day cafe and sometimes wine bar in Andes, in May.
Bassis said Cafe Mutsi’s offerings are infused with that family-based, community-centric approach.
“We are pulling from recipes from our mothers and grandmothers,” Bassis said, adding that the cafe opened on Mother’s Day. “‘Mutsi’ means mother in Finnish, which is where my mother is from, so it’s Nordic recipes. It’s my grandma’s famous cardamom buns on the menu, and my husband has Dutch and Moroccan roots, so our harissa and couscous are from his side. We’re pulling from food memories and food travels and things that mean something to us.”
Bassis was born and raised in Manhattan. Koopman was born in the Netherlands. The couple met in Manhattan while working, and lived there for a bit.
“My dad had been up here in the Delhi area for about 20 years, and I’ve been coming to the area since I was a child and had other relatives with houses in the area, so grew up vacationing here,” Bassis said.
“My husband and I just gravitated toward this area as we were figuring out our next step,” she continued. “We wanted to get out of the city and get our feet in the grass and see some trees out our windows. We love the community atmosphere up here and we noticed a lot of other, similar-minded couples and folks our age doing the same thing, so it was a lightbulb moment that there’s this beautiful life up here.”
Bassis said her background has informed the menu’s versatility.
“I’ve been a chef in the city for over 17 years,” she said. “A short stint at a restaurant but, after that, I was running hands-on cooking classes at a school, then I was private chefing for a while. I was working with specific families in the city, which let me try all kinds of cuisines and working with different dietary restrictions and health needs, so I think the really cool part about what I’m doing up here is, if we have locals that I hear of (being) gluten free or vegan or having a specific allergy, that helps me plan the menu, because I want them to be able to eat the food here. People are really excited about it. Not just about their diet, but because it’s yummy for everyone.”
Cafe Mutsi’s cuisine, its website stated, “is inspired by the bounty and community of Upstate, focusing on highlighting local delights from our local farmers, purveyors, and makers. Our ever-changing menu is a love letter to the seasons, often inspired by our Nordic heritage. Nothing makes us happier than seeing familiar ingredients spark joy in new ways, and to be a part of your daily nourishment and happiness.”
Bassis said Friday night is “our favorite night of the week.”
“That’s when we have our wine bar and shared plates,” she said. “Guests are getting a few different things and sharing them.”
Bassis said customers represent “a little bit of everybody.”
“I think we were surprised at the amount of repeat guests that we get and the familiar faces that we’re seeing,” she said. “There are neighborhood people that live here, and we get travelers walking or driving through the town that are curious, young families, older folks. Really, everybody’s welcome.
“People are excited to have something new to go to,” Bassis continued. “We’re on everyone’s rotation now. There’s still so few places up here to go, so they have their rotation of places, and it’s fun to see when folks are bringing visiting family or their moms or guests to try it out. It’s a beautiful thing that they’re sharing.”
Bassis said she hopes to “do more popups,” including collaborations.
“We’d love to have other chefs come play in the kitchen, especially since we’re only doing Friday night dinners,” she said, “and we just put special orders and pre-orders on the website, because our pastries and bread tend to sell out pretty quickly.”
Cafe Mutsi is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and 5-9 p.m. Friday nights. Bassis said they don’t take reservations.
“We’re walk-in,” she said. “We want to be approachable, somewhere that you can, on a whim, stop by for a cup of coffee or dinner on a Friday night.”
For more information, visit cafemutsi.com or follow @cafemutsi on Instagram.