Couple steps in to save Kansas cafe known for German buffet that closed after flood
They’ve become pretty good bakers and meat smokers, and with 17 years of experience selling food on their resumes, Mark and Kris Wiebe think they’d be pretty good at running a restaurant.
But that’s not their only reason for reopening the Main Street Cafe, the small-town Kansas restaurant that’s been closed since a Fourth of July flood.
Mark grew up just two miles outside of Durham, where the cafe has operated for more than two decades. So he knows first-hand how important the presence of a restaurant can be for small communities.
“A small town loses their social meeting place when a cafe like that closes,” he said. “It’s part holding a small community together.”
Wendell Wedel and his wife, Linda, had run the Main Street Cafe for 24 years in downtown Durham, population 106. It was known for its Friday-night German buffet, and people would travel from all over to get a taste of the cafe’s famous homemade sausage, sliced brisket, sauerkraut, vareniki and homemade pie.
But on July 4, a thunderstorm dumped rain on Marion County, filling downtown Durham with 3 feet of water. The cafe got 32 inches inside, and in the following days, it was gutted by cleanup crews.
Wedel, almost 66 years old, decided he didn’t have the energy or desire it would take to reopen. People were distraught, especially natives of the area, which is an hour north of Wichita. One even launched a Go Fund Me campaign to help save the restaurant.
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Not long after, the Wiebes decided to step in. They’d been setting up a booth they called Homemade Anytime at farmers markets around the area for about 17 years, and they’d gotten particularly good at baking, smoking and meat grilling. They also sold cheese made by Mark’s brother.
Those skills, they decided, could translate into restaurant ownership, and they told Wedel they’d like to reopen the place. They’ve been working on it as their farmers market schedule allows but hope to be ready to reopen in early November, Mark said.
They’ll be making a few changes.
For one, the cafe’s name will change, but only slightly. The Wiebes will call it Main Street Cafe & Bakery.
The Wiebes, who also are Mennonite cooks, plan to continue offering Friday night buffets, but the content might change a bit. They’re not planning on serving Mennonite vareniki like the Wedels did. Their buffet will feature more smoked meat and they hope to serve Wedel’s homemade sausage as well. The cafe also will still offer a big variety of pie as well as baked goods to go. Overall, though, it will have a “basic small-town cafe menu,” Mark said.
Mark said that everywhere he went with his farmers market booth this summer, people were lamenting the loss of the Main Street Cafe. That gives him faith that he and his wife are taking on a wise venture.
“I’ve told people that this is the only business I’ve ever done where I’ve had so many people excited about what I’m doing,” he said.
I’ll let you know when the cafe is ready to reopen.
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