A Coffee Shop with a View

Anissa Ehmke has good memories of living in Chicago when she was a girl.

“My dad’s side of the family was Italian, and I remember watching my grandma cook. It was such an occasion, cooking and eating,” she recalled. “I found it fascinating; the dinners bringing us all together, talking and arguing, but at the end of the evening we were all family and having fun. This is what I remember, sitting down to dinner together.”

Annissa Ehmke poors coffee at Espresso Lane in Baileys Harbor.

That memory of an extended family under the spell of food was one of the factors in Ehmke’s decision to purchase Espresso Lane Café and Coffee in Baileys Harbor. Another is her experience learning to bake from her mother.

“I liked baking because it was peaceful and different from everything else I was doing when I was in school,” she said. Laughing, she continued, “But now it’s a bit crazy when it’s my job, when I have other things to think about, too – customers, bills, the phone, employees – it’s not just me and the baking anymore!”

The coffee shop with its wrap-around porch sits high on a bank offering a view of Lake Michigan. The building that houses the business began its life as a single family residence and continues to maintain a homey feeling with its two front rooms filled with tables and comfortable seating, a jigsaw puzzle always in progress, an upright piano that welcomes musicians, a take-a-book leave-a-book bookcase, and original artwork on the walls.

“I want people to be comfortable when they come in the door,” Ehmke said. “When you walk in here it’s a friendly feeling. A lot of locals come, and people get to know one another.”

While Ehmke is young, just twenty-three years old, to be embarking on a career as a business owner, her decision was practical. She had been coming into the coffee shop almost daily since owner Kathi Anderson opened for business in 2003.

“Adam Nelson, a friend of mine, had told Kathi that I liked to bake,” Ehmke explained. “Kathi asked me if I would bake for her part time. I agreed but was a senior in college and could only work weekends. But after I graduated, she wanted me full time, thinking of making me a partner. We even took a business class together.

“And then last January she decided that she wanted to sell and asked if I would like to buy [Espresso Lane],” Ehmke continued. “So I did! The instructor at the class had told us that nobody but the owner knows what it’s like to run a business. When I became the boss, I found out!”

After Ehmke completed a degree in psychology at UW-Madison, she applied to graduate school with an interest in counseling and had planned to go to school part time while running the business. “But there is too much work to do,” she laughed. “I’m not thinking of doing that anymore!”

“But the business is a good experience, even though it’s like I’m married to it,” Ehmke said. “I have a couple of employees now, and some people helping me out; but it will be hard doing this full time unless I hire more people. The work is very physical, and it takes a toll.”

She laughed, “But at my age, you never know what’s going to happen!”

All of the pastries are made in the café, with Ehmke doing most of the baking. John Flock cooks for her, her mother helps out once a week and her sister Alyssa who is working for her this summer, will soon join the crew of bakers. The café continues to offer Kathi Anderson’s popular specialties – the scones, muffins, and huge cinnamon rolls.

“Kathi taught me a lot while I was working for her,” Ehmke said. “She gave me a lot of freedom. And she gave me her recipes.”

Ehmke also plans to bake an assortment of Swedish pastries in addition to the ones she offers now, along with pies, cakes, and cheesecakes. Espresso Lane is unique in that it is one of only a handful of coffee shops that bakes their own pastries.

In addition to her baked goods, breakfast sandwiches are popular with customers. The coffee cubby is a favorite: bacon, egg, cheese, and tomato on a home-made cheese biscuit.

Her lunch menu includes paninis, wraps, salads, and soups. Most popular is her chicken breast sandwich with pesto mayo, provolone cheese, and roasted red peppers on ciabatta bread.

She serves Alterra coffees, always offering a dark, a light, a decaf, and a half-caf brew, along with teas and chais. She prepares espresso drinks, including lattes and cappuccinos, in addition to steamers and hot chocolates.

Espresso Lane is located on Highway 42 in Baileys Harbor and provides additional parking space at the rear of the building. The coffee shop and café is open every day but Christmas from 6 am to 3 pm.

Owner Annisa Ehmke may feel that she is married to the business, but at this point she also believes that it is a match made in heaven. The memory of her childhood in Chicago with an extended family enjoying each other’s presence as they eat and drink has been translated to the house with the view of Lake Michigan in downtown Baileys Harbor.