My Experience at Tin Roof Cafe
By: Kaitlyn Grist
Tin Roof Cafe:
Located on Main street in Erin, Tin Roof Cafe is a family owned and operated business that strives to serve the community that they love. Since August 2015, Tin Roof cafe has served a wide range of warm and cold drinks, baked in house rotating baked goods like squares and cookies, as well as a cafe menu that offers everything from breakfast to sandwiches to soup and salad. Tin Roof Cafe has an ever-growing team of dedicated and amiable employees that is headed by its creators Rachel and Brady who are some of the most considerate, compassionate, and devoted owners I have ever met. They deeply care about their employees, customers, and anyone who walks through their doors, working to put their heart and soul into everything that they do.
My Co-Op Experience:
For my cooperative education placement I decided to work in a hospitality sector within Erin and I was ecstatic when Tin Roof emailed my teacher back that they would be willing to accept a co-op student. I work in the back as a kitchen assistant helping to supply the front with what they need to operate. Some of the jobs I help with are bottling syrups for their coffee menu, the necessary food prep for their food menu like preparing the meat/meat alternatives to bottling mayo to making the parfaits and salads, and helping to create their delightful baked goods like their cookies and squares. The rest of the staff in the kitchen are very easy to work with and just overall amazing people who work hard every single day. So far, I have completed four weeks of my placement and I am excited to continue learning and helping at Tin Roof Cafe.
Community Involvement and Contribution:
Tin Roof often has multiple community events distributed throughout the different seasons. Like in September they donated $0.50 from every large coffee order towards Bethell Hospice and hosted the Rotary club a little while ago so they could interact with the community. Then at the end of October they are the starting location for the witches walk which is raising money for Headwater Health Care Foundation and this Saturday coming up they are donating approximately 100 cups of coffee to Longrun graduate horse open house. That is to name only some of the events they are doing at the moment, but more will occur throughout the year and they strive to continue giving back to the community they love.
Final Thoughts:
As stated previously, working at Tin Roof Cafe so far has been an excellent experience and has opened my eyes to the complexities needed to run a successful coffee shop as well as the occupation option of working in hospitality in the future.
I was excited to get this opportunity as I have been going to Tin Roof with my family since it opened; Ever since starting I have had an eye opening experience into how the environment at Tin Roof is cultivated behind the scenes. The staff are all genuinely friendly and easy to work with, they have been a huge help in getting me settled and understanding what is expected of me. Brady and Rachel are extremely committed to the business!
Kaitlyn Grist from Erin District High School shares a little bit about their experience and how Tin Roof Cafe is contributing to our community’s future.