YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The restaurant-coffee shop at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown closed about a month ago but will soon reopen with a new name and operator.
Looma Café is slated to open in early April, says Zach Conkle, who will operate it with his fiancé, Taylor Stillerman.
The previous operator closed the café earlier this year.
The dining room has a skylight and a glass wall that bathes it in natural sunlight. Conkle plans to give it a decor that plays off those architectural features.
“There will be a lot of live plants because it’s like a sunroom in there,” Conkle said. “There’s a big skylight, like a greenhouse.”
The café will be open Tuesday-Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will offer breakfast sandwiches and lunch items, with three scratch-made soups every day, and vegan options.
Because the entrance is on the Youngstown State University campus, there will also be grab and go items for students.
Looma Café will also offer full coffee shop service, including espresso, latte, cappuccino, chai latte and matcha coffee. Branch Street coffee roasters of Boardman will supply all coffees.
“It will be everything you expect to find at a cafe,” Conkle said. “There will finally be a space on campus where students can chill and hang out.”
The name of the café – Looma – is an Estonian word that means “to create, to make or to compose,” according to Conkle.
Running a café has been a goal of Conkle and Stillerman and they jumped at the opportunity when it arose.
“We’ve always dreamed of having space like this but we never thought we would be able to,” Conkle said. “The way everything presented itself worked out.”
Conkle said he will be at the café every day with two employees.
The museum management is also pleased with how things turned out.
“Zach is young and energetic,” said Susan Carfano, assistant to the director of The Butler. “He is excited about it, and it’s making us excited.”
Conkle’s career in the food business started eight years ago, when he and his brother, Joe, moved to Colorado and got jobs at a restaurant.
“That’s where I got my experience,” he said. “I was a prep cook for a big operation and made soups and sauces, salad dressings, and sausages, all from scratch. When we moved back home, I did the same thing at some local restaurants.”
Conkle has been working for the past five years as a barista at Generations coffee shop in Columbiana.
If his name sounds familiar, that’s because Zach and Joe are a musical duo who perform in the area as The Conkle Brothers.
The brothers will continue to perform as a duo, and also backing their cousin, vocalist Gianna Montouri.
While Looma Café marks Zach’s first go as a restaurateur, he already operates a recording studio in his New Waterford home where he has produced recordings for his and other local bands.
Pictured at top: Zach Conkle and Taylor Stillerman stand on the steps of the Butler museum, where they will operate Looma Café.