One fine winter evening while plodding through snow, I found myself in Parkside. It was in this historic neighborhood, that I came across Sweet_ness 7 Café.

Named after her son Stefano’s email, who she tragically lost in a car accident, Sweet_ness 7 is Prish Moran’s way of keeping her son’s memories alive, by embracing his love for coffee and penchant for old neighborhoods.

One is welcomed by a “Hug Here” motif outside the door step. The warmth continues inside, with beautiful drapes, lop-sided message boards, an old telephone booth and a center table proclaiming Buffalo to be the “City of No Illusions”.

Equally impressive is the menu which boasts a variety of coffee drinks, fine selection of teas, beers and wines, making sure that our non-caffeine crazed friends also feel the love! The fact that coffee goes hand in hand with a little-something-to-eat is known to our friends at S7. Enter fresh home-made baked goods and a dedicated menu of some eclectic-named crepes like “The Whole Shebang” and “Kiss me I’m Irish”.

But this café is more than unconventional décor and crepes, for it is an embodiment of its owner’s lifestyle. Prish is an unconventional designer and a believer of sustainable living. Hence explaining the cage-free eggs, fair-trade organic coffee beans and net-zero water cups. When asked more about the café, she tells me “We have a safe, we just don’t use it! I want my employees to take ownership. I always give them more responsibilities, so they can excel in everything. That is why we don’t have managers.” She comes across like a nurturing mother, pushing her employees to accomplish more while making sure they can fall on her.

And you see that caring streak in her when she offers a job to a young man simply because he needs one, or when she asks someone to chaperone me to my car because she is not comfortable with me walking alone to the back parking lot.

She along with the entire S7 family keeps her promise of delivering a cup of coffee with a taste of love!