Young mom enlisted former Sage & Salt chef to help start new Triad wine bar and coffee shop (2024)

A young mother and former teacher has opened a family-friendly combination coffee shop, wine bar and café at 3707-A Battleground Ave.

Cozy Brew Café is in the Brassfield Shopping Center, which is anchored by Trader Joe’s.

Leslie Suddreth, who owns the business with her husband, Matt, said she had taught school for about 10 years, then took off a few years when she had her two kids, now ages 4 and 7. Now that they are school-age, she was ready for a new opportunity.

“I live around here, and there aren’t any places like this nearby – with a wine bar, a (locally owned) coffee shop,” she said. “I wanted a place where you could take the kids but still get a good glass of wine.”

Suddreth said she loves the mountains and had that in mind when she designed the interior of the café. “I wanted it to have a rustic feel like a mountain cabin,” she said.

The café has muted green walls, a wood bar and wood tables.

Cozy Brew opens every morning, offering a full line of espresso drinks, as well as drip coffee and cold brew, and tea and smoothies. Cozy Brew uses coffee exclusively from Carolina Coffee Roasting Co. in Greensboro, which created a medium-roast house blend for the café. Customers also buy bags of coffee to take home.

The food menu in the morning includes muffins ($3.50), scones ($6), quiche ($9) and bagels with cream cheese ($4). The bagels are delivered fresh every morning from New Garden Bagel Co., but most everything else is made in-house.

The menu changes later in the day, offering a variety of snacks and light fare. “It’s mostly small plate,” said chef Anders Benton. “There’s nothing with protein, starch and veg all on one plate. It’s more shareables.”

Benton was mostly recently chef at Sage & Salt Bistro in Winston-Salem, but Greensboro diners may know him as the former chef at GIA Drink, Eat & Listen.

Some items, like the cheese plate ($18) and charcuterie board ($32), are clearly designed with wine drinkers in mind.

And though the menu is small, there’s pretty much something for everyone, including BBQ pork sliders ($12), baked pepper-crusted goat cheese ($14), Parmesan and herb fries ($10) and Caesar salad wedges ($8). The latter includes house-made dressing, bacon and “tons of Parmesan,” Benton said.

“It’s all simple, good food,” he said.

Cozy Brew even serves a grown-up version of pigs in a blanket, wrapped in a croissant dough with house-made mustard. “That was one of the first things on the menu,” Suddreth said, “because I’ve been making that for my family all my life.”

There is also a Little Buddies Board ($10) for kids, with peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, Goldfish crackers, cheese and more.

Desserts come from Cheesecakes by Alex.

On Saturdays and Sundays, there’s a special brunch menu from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. That includes house-made biscuits with butter, jam and gravy ($8); eggs Benedict with house-made English muffins ($12); pimento cheese grits bowl ($14); and a smoked salmon plate ($16).

Customers also can order a la carte toast, English muffins, fruit, country ham, bacon and eggs.

Cozy Brew serves wine and beer but not liquor.

Suddreth said she’s a big fan of wine, and the wine list mostly avoids grocery-store wines other well-known brands.

There are about a half-dozen each of red and white wines by the glass, as well as a few sparkling wines. There are a dozen more wines sold by the bottle only. The selection includes Sauvion Vouvray from the Loire Valley of France, Cesira Monferrato Bianco from Italy’s Piedmont and Mitolo Jester Cabernet Sauvignon from McLaren Vale, Australia.

Cozy Brew also has prosecco on tap. “At brunch we do mimosa flights with different juices,” Suddreth said.

There are currently five beers on tap. “We rotate the beers but they are mostly local,” Suddreth said.

Beers on tap last week included Little Brother Kolsch, Wise Man Italian Pilsner and Red Oak Amber.

Cozy Brew has wine tastings every other week, usually including four or five wines for $12. The café also has a wine club. For $25, members get one bottle of wine a month, chosen by Suddreth (but usually with substitutions available), plus free admission to all tastings and 15% discount off bottle purchases.

Suddreth said that, so far, brunch has been the café’s busiest time. But Cozy Brew also has started offering live music. With about 40 seats each inside and out, the music is generally going to be acoustic. A bluegrass band the other weekend was a big success, Suddreth said.

Because Cozy Brew is on one end of a line of buildings in the shopping center, it was able to build a sizable and fairly quiet and secluded patio that has been popular when the weather is moderate.

Suddreth said she was excited to have a patio, partly because she wanted to have a place for kids to play. In addition to stocking the café with games, Suddreth sprinkled colored paper confetti all over the gravel area of the patio. Hunting for that confetti has proven to be a fun game for small children.

“I just wanted to have a place that’s relaxing, a local place where people can come have a cup of coffee, or gather with friends with wine and food, or where moms can get together and have little play dates for the kids on the patio. I wanted a place that’s family-friendly – I don’t think there are many options for that.”