Two More Businesses Coming to Downtown Kent

The revitalization movement under way in downtown Kent is now spreading to North Water Street, where two businesses are bringing a vacant building back to life.

Bent Tree Coffee Roasters and Taproot Catering Co. will both open later this month at 313 N. Water, the former home of Sorboro’s Italian Kitchen, which closed more than two years ago.

New to the downtown business scene is Bent Tree, an artisan, small-batch coffee roasting venture that will occupy the front third of the building. The rear two-thirds of the structure will serve as food storage, prep and kitchen spaces for Taproot, an expansion of the catering business already operated by restaurant.

Bent Tree Coffee Roasters

Long-time friends Ryan Brannon and Mike Mistur, both Kent residents, have been avid coffee-roasting hobbyists for several years. They’ve enjoyed sampling beans from different regions and perfecting the roasting process at their homes. Now they’re ready to go pro.

The duo will offer area coffee enthusiasts something currently not available in the region: high-quality, fair trade organic beans freshly roasted on site daily.

"We both enjoy the roasting process and the fresh-coffee taste that you get from grinding beans you roasted the day before," Brannon said. "It’s cool, and we’re excited to bring our products to the people of Kent."

There will be three components to their business: retail, wholesale and Internet sales.

Bent Tree will be open mornings for retail sales. The shop will sell samples of its coffees by the cup, offering a minimum of six single-origin varieties and several blends. Customers will be able to purchase their favorite beans by the pound or a smaller size yet to be determined.

In the afternoons, Brannon and Mistur will close the retail shop in order to focus on their wholesale business serving area restaurants and .

"Since there’s not a roaster in the area, all of these (local) coffee shops and restaurants have to order coffee from a roaster in Cleveland or Cincinnati. We’ll be providing local establishments a great product from a great local roaster," Brannon said.

The Kent State  alums met in 2000, when both were waiting tables at the — then a vegetarian restaurant. "We used to talk all the time about opening our own small business and now, many years later, we’re actually doing it," Brannon said.

Both men are proud to be part of the business district’s revitalization.

"Kent is a great place to be – especially now with all of the development downtown – and we’re excited to be a part of it," Mistur said.

Taproot Catering Co.

When opened at the in June 2009, co-owners Mike Beder and Brian Bower never dreamed an expansion would be a necessity within two years. But the restaurant and its catering business quickly grew in popularity, which Bower says is "a great problem to have."

Bower, the chef who introduced his Southern-style fare to Kent, said Cajun Dave’s catering business "has really exploded in the last year or so." As a result, the business needs a significantly larger walk-in cooler and much more prep space than is available at the space-locked Cajun Dave’s.

The restaurant will remain at the Water Street Tavern, while the catering portion of the business will operate from the South Water Street building.

The name Taproot Catering was chosen "so that new customers didn’t have a preconceived idea that our abilities were limited to what they saw on the Cajun Dave’s menu, which isn’t a bad thing," Bower explained.

Taproot offers flexibility when it comes to event size, location, menu preferences and levels of service. Bower said he can "create a menu for pretty much any budget. Our pricing is competitive."

To date, the business has catered wedding receptions, golf outings, company picnics, graduation open houses and many events at Kent State.

"No event is too small or too large for us to cater," Bower said. "We’ve done on-premise parties (at Cajun Dave’s) as small as 20 people and we’ve done an event at the university for over 900."

Bower, who spent nine years in South Carolina perfecting his Southern-cooking skills, personally works 95 percent of the company’s catering events just to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

"Not only are we catering for that one person that has purchased our service, but we’re also advertising to future clientele, in a sense," Bower said. "I’m building a reputation in this town for great food made from fresh, local products, great prices and great service. If any one part of that fails, then I feel I’ve failed the customer."