By Dale McGarrigle Special to The Weekly VEAZIE — After more than 20 years, Cathy Conn’s sideline has become her livelihood. A longtime banker, Conn has done catering on the side for two decades. Now she has become the owner and chef at the newly reopened Stone Sparrow Cafe at 1492 State St. Conn summarized her culinary mission simply: “I’m not inventing anything. I like real food and flavor. I also like to introduce people to some new things that they might not have tried before. You can offer quality without having it cost a lot of money.” The cafe is open for breakfast 7-11 a.m. and for lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and for breakfast and brunch specials 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Conn offers a traditional breakfast menu and a lunch menu with soups, sandwiches and lunch plates, including soup and lunch-plate specials every day. Conn emphasized that everything is made from scratch except for some of the breads. Conn’s staff consists of two assistants who wait tables and help in the kitchen, and her mother. “We’re small but mighty, looking to grow,” she said. Conn had a soft opening June 21, and already has repeat customers coming in multiple times a week. “It’s a tribute to my staff’s attitude toward people,” she said. “They’re friendly and open.” This role marks the latest development in Conn’s evolution as a cook. She started while in high school, cooking for an elderly woman who summered in Northeast Harbor. Among those she served that summer was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Conn has a background in architecture and design, and worked in banking for years. While catering, she had toyed with the idea of starting a place of her own. “It’s been in my head off and on for a lot of years, but I was very afraid of the risk.” But in 2012, her then-current employer, Bank of America, left the area and Conn found herself “I didn’t have a job, so there wasn’t nearly as much risk,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘If not now, when? Will you regret doing it or regret that you didn’t try to do it?’” Conn had been looking at locations for a restaurant, but couldn’t find quite what she was looking for. Then she saw the then Stone House Cafe in a real-estate ad. “I had always thought it was an adorable building,” Conn said. “I liked the location, and I thought it was a building that deserved to have someone to love it.” She bought the building in February and fully updated the kitchen and dining room, which can seat up to 18, and added a prep kitchen in the basement. “The responses to the changes have been what I wanted to hear, and reflected what I personally felt about it,” she said. She’s also preserved a piece of Bangor-area dining history. When she read that a local dermatology practice was taking over the former Oronoka building, she asked the new owner what remained in the famed eatery, and he invited her to take a look around. She came away with chairs, plates and some glassware that is now being used at the Stone Sparrow Cafe. For the fledgling owner, there’s been a learning curve. “It’s been a learn-as-you-go process, and I’ve gotten a couple of big issues out of the way very early,” Conn said, without elaborating. Conn is still getting used to cooking to menu, more nervous about how a customer’s eggs came out than she used to be about feeding 200 guests at a wedding. But she’s satisfied with her cafe’s start. “I wanted to make a place that is nice, but isn’t so fancy that people feel uncomfortable in it,” she said. “I wanted it to feel welcoming, and we’re on that path.” The Stone Sparrow Cafe, at 1492 State St. in Veazie, can be reached at 942-9552.
Veazie cafe has new owner, new name
