NAPPANEE -- Carl Flickinger Jr. devoted an entire restaurant to one meal.
The owner of Hunter’s Hideaway along Nappanee’s Main Street purchased the building next door in 2015. After Athens Gyros & Diner closed in September 2016, Flickinger spent more on a renovation than he’d paid for the building and opened C & C Breakfast Co. five months later. “It’s always been a breakfast place here on the corner,” he said of the spot at Main Street and Lincoln Avenue.
But Nappanee, and really Elkhart and Kosciusko counties, haven’t seen a breakfast place like this one. It’s a bit more expensive and more foodie-oriented than other restaurants offering the first meal of the day. Since it opened in March, C & C has been offering breakfast tacos, pork belly hash, and biscuits that span 5 inches and fill a small plate.
After purchasing Hunter’s from his parents in 2007, Flickinger transformed it from a dive bar into a smoke-free place offering trendier food and craft beer. Food sales have quadrupled as families started coming. “I’m a foodie. I love to get into it,” he said.
He also loves breakfast. He’s a fan of urban breakfast spots like Cafe Patachou in Indianapolis and Yolk in Indy and Chicago. “I thought why not bring a ‘Patachou Light’ to the area,” he said. So in addition to putting in big windows and a modern wood-themed decor, he created a menu that is clearly oriented to the first meal of the day, but includes chorizo, pork belly and corned beef that they cook in the kitchen. “I’m not serving things out of a can. I’m not serving things out of a pouch,” he said.
Nappanee is not on the front lines of gustatory exploration. The Amish-Mennonite cooking that is part of the city’s heritage is centered around heartiness, not bold flavors. At Hunter’s, Flickinger learned that sometimes his tastes extend beyond those of his customers, so he’s created a menu for C & C that isn’t the usual Midwestern breakfast spot, but also doesn’t venture into completely strange territory.
Between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, C & C puts pretty breakfast food on the pretty tables. The initial swarms during the week have slowed, but there’s still a line out the door on weekends.
He’s heard complaints about the prices, which are higher than diner breakfast prices but not much more than pancake house prices. He realizes that if he didn’t charge $3 for a cup of coffee, he may see a few more farmers alongside the mothers who bring their kids and the business meetings that are happening. But he’s serving Kona coffee and it simply costs him more. (You can get an “endless pot of coffee” for up to four people for $5.50.)
Prices matter, but what matters more is value. I assess what I’m getting for what I’m paying and I’m happy to pay $9 for a bowl of corned beef hash that has crispy potatoes with chunks of meat that someone in the kitchen cooked and then cut. With two eggs and either a biscuit or toast, the value is there. Actually, if you order a side of sausage gravy for an additional $2, that biscuit included with breakfast becomes a second meal.
The menu has a lot of meat-centric dishes. I’d love a few more creative lighter options other than a bowl of oatmeal, yogurt parfait, and the veggie-centric sandwich and omelet. Those can come with time, but it also may be true that this menu offers what customers want when they splurge on breakfast, both in terms of their wallet and waistline.
Flickinger is preparing to open a barbecue restaurant in Etna Green to support the barbecue catering he’s been doing. C & C was an easy concept to open and he’d love to replicate it in Goshen or Warsaw.
I’d welcome that. This is the breakfast place I’ve been waiting for in Elkhart County. It goes beyond the norm to offer a more creative and high-quality approach to the first meal of the day. It is a small-town and local version of those urban breakfast spots that Flickinger admires. I’ll celebrate that and drive to Nappanee to enjoy it.
I’m hungry. Let’s eat.
C & C Breakfast Co.
161 S. Main St.,
Nappanee
Hours: 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday to Saturday
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday
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