Economic Development | Guilford | Arts & Culture | Youth Arts Journalism Initiative | Culinary Arts
Friends Scarlet Earl and Liza, who did not give her last name. Ruby Szekeres Photos.
Scarlet Earl sipped her chai tea and chatted with her friend Liza, savoring the sweet, milky flavors lingering on her tongue. The smell from her avocado toast, warm and slightly nutty, still hovered around the empty plate. She took in the scene and smiled.
“It is a great place to go with a friend,” she said.
The two are frequent customers at Belle Vie Cafe, which is celebrating its third year in business this October. A two-story cafe and restaurant that sits beside the Guilford Free Library, the building has built a steady following in its half decade, growing from a bakery dream to a full-scale business with options for every kind of eater.
“My favorite thing about this place is seeing people happy,” said owner Alexandra Costache in a recent interview, adding that she hopes her kids see the staff as a kind of extended family. “I know how to do everything here, but it wouldn’t be possible without my team.”
On a recent weekday, that vision was in full swing. Joan Buffaro, a resident of Old Lyme, came with friend (and self-described Belle Vie regular) Tanya Salnikova. As she tucked into a chicken and artichoke crepe, Salnikova noted how delicious the crepe’s savory filling and pesto was.
“It is like an adventure, looking over the menu, that is,” Salnikova said. “It feels good knowing that you can be kind to your body with this delicious food.”
“The food is just delicious and the staff were so kind and accommodating,” Buffaro added.
Friends Joan Buffaro and Tanya Salnikova.
With an expansive menu, Costache tries to offer something for everyone, including people with food allergies and dietary restrictions. Some of her most popular dishes are crepes and breakfast items, such as the “Simple Jen” crepe, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and a pat of butter on top.
She also seeks to take simple recipes and give them a beautiful twist, she said—like the name of the cafe, French for "beautiful life," might suggest. That passion comes from the matriarchs in her family, and her own experience as a mom.
“I found my love for food from my mother and grandmother,” she said. After immigrating to the U.S. from Romania, Costache first learned cooking in college, first as a matter of necessity and then because she loved it.
When she could, she filled her free time with watching cooking shows and reading cooking magazines, which inspired her own creations. She considered becoming a nurse, but ultimately decided on the culinary arts. She enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan in 2009, four years after she’d arrived in the U.S.
“When I first found this location, I was scrolling for cafes for sale,” she said. “I came every day for a couple months and took in the atmosphere, thinking of what could be changed. Sometimes people ask why I don’t open a cafe in Milford where I’m from, but I tell them that you can’t find a unique atmosphere like this anywhere else.”
Costache is proud of serving people with food in a healthier way,. “We don’t use heavy oils here,” she said. “People deserve food which won’t make them feel bloated.” As for her favorite dish, Costache is fond of the chicken and avocado panini, which is popular for lunch.
Though she can’t be at the cafe all the time, Costache is often at the front taking orders, making drinks and going in and out of the kitchen to assist staff.
On a recent weekday, it was packed with customers eager to support her vision. At the register, people lined up to order. Everything and everyone was bathed in a warm golden light. The building, a half circle, resembled a tin can split down the middle.
One of those customers was first-time attendee Emma Stronk, a newcomer to the Guilford area who had placed an order just minutes before the kitchen closed. Waiting at her table for a classic crepe—drizzled with Nutella and topped with a strawberry—she said she hopes to bring her friends to the cafe.
“I think that the location here is really important because it is really accessible,” she said.
Belle Vie Café is open every day of the week from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.. Their kitchens close at 2:30 p.m. This article comes from the 2024 Cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative. Ruby Szekeres is a sophomore at the Sound School.