The eggs are still frying and the toast is still toasting, but Café Ello is no more. Earlier this week, former owners Lorne Richman and Ellie Bluestone sold the Haywood Street breakfast and lunch spot to Gary Taylor, a former advertising executive.
Although the restaurant still looks, feels and smells like Café Ello, it now goes by Café 64. Gary Taylor says that customers can expect the same hours and menu items for the time being. “I think [the café] is working really well, and I just hope that we can continue to make it work and implement new ideas as we move along,” he says.
Taylor moved here from Los Angeles with his wife, Marcella, three months ago. Café 64 is his first restaurant, although he says he has always had an interest in the food industry. His first job in advertising was at the fledgling Williams Sonoma in San Francisco. “At that time the company was very small, and we did everything ourselves,” he says. “I spent endless days with Chuck Williams finding products to shoot, and then he would cook everything, and we would shoot it all there on the spot.”
While he is considering doing local advertising work in the future, Taylor says his main focus will be the café. Customers can expect to find him there most days, he says.
Café 64 is located at 64 Haywood St. It serves breakfast, lunch, coffee and tea seven days a week: Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m to 2 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
