Cafe Brule owners purchase former Raziel’s building

Jim Waters and Monica Iverson, co-owners of Cafe Brule, are hoping to bring “something different” to downtown Vermillion with the opening of their new business this coming spring.

The co-owners closed the deal on a vacant building located at 13 West Main St., formerly known as Raziel’s, this past Friday. The two said they have been eyeing the property for awhile, and now was a good time to expand their business opportunities.

“We’re looking to bring in a popular idea that we’ve been focusing on, but we’re not sure how we’re going to present it,” Iverson said. “We’re doing something different that’s popular east coast, west coast, everywhere. Even a bit in Chicago, but it hasn’t made it here yet.”

The business partners are keeping the new project fairly secretive, wanting to hold off on details “to build the anticipations” – similar to what they did when opening Cafe Brule in 2011.

Renovations inside the purchased building will take most of winter, they said.

They’re hoping to open by April at the earliest, Iverson and Waters added.

They described their new business operation as an “11 a.m. to 11 p.m. restaurant that serves wine and beer.”

Iverson and Waters estimate 35 to 40 jobs will be created when the business opens.

The “restaurant” will not have the same feel as Cafe Brule, Waters said.

“We don’t want the same feel, but we want it to be comfortable, a little more modern (than Cafe Brule),” Iverson said in agreement with Waters.

Waters and Iverson said Cafe Brule will remain as it is now and won’t change with the addition of their new business, despite rumors they have heard around the community.

“There are times when people say we need a bigger place than this, but this place works,” Waters said.

Two aspects the duo wants to incorporate into their new business are microbrews and wine pairings with their food selections, they said.

“Micro and craft beers are huge right now,” Waters said. “It’s all about the food first, and then the pairing (of drinks).”

Iverson stressed that the new restaurant will not be a bar and lounge, but said they hope it will be a place where people can come and hang out with their friends.

“We’re not looking to be another bar, we’re looking to be more like a restaurant-lounge, somewhere in the middle,” she said. “At the same time, we want a family to be able to come in and have the meals that we present.”

A name has not been selected for the new restaurant, but the business duo said they “are getting closer” to picking one.

They said the outdoor patio attached to their newly-acquired building is a unique feature to the downtown area.

“We both have always envied the patio at Raziel’s in comparison to ours,” Iverson said. “There’s not many downtown places that offer that, so the fact that that’s been sitting empty and no one’s been able to utilize that is something we’ve been watching.”

As business partners, Iverson and Waters believe one of the reasons they have seen success in their careers as entrepreneurs is their belief in local businesses in a community. They said they’ve seen this theory in practice with Cafe Brule, and that’s why they decided to move forward with expanding their business operations.

“One of the reasons that we’re taking this on is for our love of downtown Vermillion,” Waters said. “We want downtown Vermillion to become a destination.”

Although they are excited about their new business endeavor, Iverson and Waters said Cafe Brule is still a priority.

“Cafe Brule is our baby. No matter what happens there (at our news business), we want people to know that our focus will always be keeping things as good as they are now if not better (at Cafe Brule),” Iverson said. “But we’re also excited about bringing something new to Vermillion.”