The letters in the name C & C Café stand for “coffee and cake,” but the longtime favorite Perkasie restaurant serves a whole lot more than that.
Owner Kim Rau’s employer closed down in 2008, but instead of looking for another job as a paralegal she decided to put to use her lifelong love of cooking and baking. She and her husband, Tom, launched the restaurant, serving breakfast and lunch every day except Monday, and these days you also can find their sons Tom Jr. and Ian working there.
“I always liked the industry,” she said, having worked in restaurants when she was younger.
Over the past decade the café has developed into a community favorite with dishes on the menu named for customers who have ordered them again and again. Kim Rau does all the baking, including her signature apple strudel and raisin breads, cinnamon buns and fruit crisps.
A top seller is Rau’s chicken salad, which is made fresh every day and includes a “secret ingredient” that she said is the key to making it taste good. The cheesesteaks and burgers also are popular, and she makes her own salad dressings, soups, chicken salad, cole slaw and veggie burgers.
The café’s breakfast menu has a long list of omelets including the popular Perkasie omelet made with bacon, cheese and tomatoes. French toast is made using apple strudel bread, raisin bread, multi-grain bread or white bread. Oversized pancakes are classic buttermilk.
The lunch menu has a variety of sandwiches including clubs, wraps, hoagies, grilled cheese, cheesesteaks, French dip and a Cape Cod fish sandwich.
In addition to all the cooking, the family pitches in to grow a garden behind the restaurant that produces fresh vegetables used in cooking and baking during the summer harvest months.
The restaurant is totally nut-free, Rau said. “We cater to all allergies,” which is easier because all food is made to order. “We have at least a hundred families who come here just because of that.”
The Raus know many of their customers by name, and value their loyalty. When the restaurant hit its 10-year anniversary they held a customer appreciation day where hundreds of people showed up to eat and listen to music.
“There are a lot of rewards being in this business,” said Rau, who supports the community whenever possible and enjoys being a neighborhood hub.
