Popular coffee shop to reopen in Canandaigua

CANANDAIGUA, NY — If circumstances were different, Moksha Bartkowski said she would have owned The Dalai Java forever. Yes, Bartkowski is the owner of the popular Main Street, Canandaigua coffee shop, but the business has been an effort for she and her partner, Jeannine Sacco, for several years.

So, when Sacco suffered a serious back injury, Bartkowski said she made what was for her a difficult, but necessary decision to close the coffee shop, at first temporarily over the Memorial Day holiday weekend and then a week ago, permanently.

Or so it was thought.

“In the moment I just made the decision that I didn’t want to continue without her,” Bartkowski said.

But then came a surprise.

Kyle Poole, the older brother of a former employee, bought the business. Poole, with the help of Bartkowski and Sacco, is learning the ropes at the soon to reopen coffee shop, which Bartkowski owned for 10 years. The business originally opened in a different Canandaigua location in 2010 under different owners.

Several applicants, as well as relieved longtime customers, stopped by Wednesday to submit job applications and orders of espresso, frappes and smoothies during the low-key "new owner training day." (Another was planned June 20.)

“We thought we would just close,” Bartkowski said. “I didn’t really intend on selling."

Bartkowski has known the Poole family for years, and so is comfortable passing on the business to Kyle, who comes to the shop after working in restaurants and the food science field. He happened to be at a crossroads in his career.

“I was leaning into doing my own thing,” Poole said. “This came up on me and I just jumped on it and decided to run with it.”

Poole has no major plans of change in store for The Dalai Java, which in addition to coffee offers breakfasts and lunches and hosts original music performers, open mics and poetry readings.

Poole has Bartkowski’s seal of approval, as he is the type of person who will take good care of the shop and take care of the community here because his heart is in it.

“I feel like The Dalai Java chose him,” Bartkowski said. “He is the one for this.”

Longtime customer Annemarie Wolfe said she was devastated to learn The Dalai Java was set to close, and now is thrilled for it to reopen.

Every morning, Wolfe said she would get up, shower and get ready to come to the coffee shop.

“I lost my morning,” Wolfe said. “Now, I feel good again. I feel like I’m home again.”

Interactions with customers like Wolfe are among the reasons why Bartkowski felt it was hard to let go.

“I loved The Dalai Java so much and put so much of myself into it that I don’t know if I could have stopped any other way,” Bartkowski said. “It took a major event like that to sort of be the catalyst for passing it on.”

Goodbye, from The Dalai Java's former owner

A Facebook post from The Dalai Java owner Moksha Bartkowski that officially announces a transition to new ownership reads, in part:

“As the sun sets on one journey, it rises on another. After nearly a decade of serving the Canandaigua community, the time has come for me to share some heartfelt words with you all.”

The decision comes with a mix of emotions, as the coffee shop has been “a sanctuary where memories were made and friendships born.”

“From the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of my partner Jeannine, and my daughters Beverly and Eliana — we bid you farewell. We carry with us the warmth of every smile, and the richness of every encounter that we've been blessed with here.”

More about The Dalai Java

The popular coffee shop at 157 S. Main St., Canandaigua, remains temporaily closed. For more details, visit https://www.facebook.com/TheDalaiJava/.

Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Dalai Java to reopen in Canandaigua NY under new ownership