Bella Vita Café in Oneida serves pastry favorites and coffee with a 'positive vibe'
Bella Vita Café owner Lori Seef recalled she was suffering from COVID-19 and barely able to breathe last March. Her soon-to-be husband, George Seef, soothed her by asking her to share a dream she had for her future.
"I always wanted to have a little bakery shop in Oneida," she told him. "And he made that dream come true."
The couple married in May.
Lori recalled that one night after dinner, George said he had something to show her. He took her to the corner of Main and Madison streets in Oneida to a former jewelry store. She didn't understand why until George said she now had that location for the next five years — to do anything she wanted with it.
"This was my wedding gift," she said.
With the invaluable assistance of Lori's pal Shawn Steding and his wife, Danette, Bella Vita Café opened its doors Aug. 16 and hosted a grand opening gala Sept. 12 with an official ribbon-cutting. Lori called the shop a little bit of Manhattan and a little bit of Italy all wrapped up into one place.
Cheese, please: Oneida shop offers gourmet cheeses, meats and crackers
A thing of beauty: Thee Beauty Lounge opens in Oneida NY
Their sweet treats will include halfmoon cookies, jelly buns, cannoli, cream puffs, eclairs and tomato pie from Holland Farms. There are fudge, cakes, pies, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, scones — with sugar-free and gluten-free options available — from Ace of Cakes. The self-serve coffee is from Cracked Bean Roastery, and on Fridays there will be fresh bread, sauce and garlic butter from the Franklin Hotel.
They even have doggie treats for the four-legged family members, and there is seating for enjoying the goodies right there at the café.
The corner location is perfect for the new bakery shop — it sees some 4,000 vehicles stop right outside at the intersection and around 250 walkers passing by each day, Lori said.
She has seen "amazing" support from the city, Lori noted, with several officials stopping in to check out the pastries.
Lori recalled the name Bella Vita Café came while she and George were dining at a restaurant. He commented that they had such a beautiful life and that, in Italian, is "bella vita." That name was perfect for the shop, Lori said.
"We really do have a beautiful life, and our kids make it everything," she explained.
Both Dominique Petroffski, a pre-school teacher in Cazenovia, and Lou Colburn, a 10-year-old student at St. Patrick's School in Oneida, joined the couple at their ribbon- cutting. Lori and Lou even mow around the nearby Hotel Oneida on Saturdays to teach him about service to his community, Lori added.
She credited her bout with the coronavirus as actually prompting her dream to become reality.
"COVID really changed our lives but for the better," Lori said. "It was pretty scary at the time, but it taught me that you only live once and to make the best of it."
Ice cream legacy: Family-owned Coneheads shop returns to Oneida NY
Eating on the run: Bakehouse Café in Vernon NY offers meals to go
Bella Vita Café is at 115 Main St. in Oneida and is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 315-367-5001, visit bellavitacafellc.com or find Bella Vita Café on Facebook.
George came by for a recent afternoon treat. He said people can expect a warm welcome when visiting Bella Vita Café.
"She does a wonderful job — nobody has better customer service than she does," he complimented.
"You can really change a person's day with just a 'Hi, how are you?'" Lori said. "That positive vibe is something I want to have here — everyone needs something positive in their lives."
Mike Jaquays is the community news reporter for the Mid-York Weekly. Email him at mjaquays@gannett.com.