Credit: Patrick Grego
As Storybook Café approaches its one-year anniversary on Jan. 6, owner Kenzie Killmer reflects on how a simple idea blossomed into a meaningful gesture of goodwill for the Pine Plains community. Nailed to a wooden beam near the register are small slips of paper, each listing a prepaid menu item, ready to be claimed by anyone in need.
“I started the day we opened,” Killmer said. “The general idea is to pay it forward: Whether it’s something small like somebody forgot their wallet, or it’s somebody that really needs a hot meal and doesn’t have the money. What the reason is doesn’t matter, I don’t need to know. You grab something off the board, and it’s paid for!”
Credit: Patrick Grego
Killmer’s philosophy stems from her own experience with financial hardship. “My wife and I have both been in a position in our past where we lived paycheck to paycheck. There were days and months that we didn’t go out to eat. We didn’t have $12 for a sandwich, and I just wanted to do something good for the community,” she said.
The program started with the café funding many of the first prepaid items. Soon, however, customers embraced the idea. “Today we had a customer who bought a coffee and a muffin for someone else, and we added it to the board.”
The initiative aligns with a family tradition of giving back to Pine Plains. Killmer’s family owned and operated Lia’s Mountain View Restaurant for 40 years. “There was no big brainstorm behind it,” Killmer explained. “Just being in this position of owning a business in town, my family tried to do as much as we could to help the community, whether that was fundraising or donations or sponsorships. This was just something small, where someone doesn’t have to feel embarrassed if they’re cold and want a cup of coffee — they can just come in and grab it.”
Storybook Café has thrived in its first year. Originally envisioned as a breakfast and grab-and-go lunch spot, the café evolved based on community demand. “People really wanted a hot lunch where they could sit down and read a book or whatever the case may be,” Killmer said. The menu has expanded several times, and the café now hosts events like Halloween festivities, late-night decorating and even an upcoming open mic night for the Gay-Straight Alliance.
“It’s been really great. I’m very pleasantly surprised with business,” Killmer said. “The Mountain View was my entire life. It had 40 years to figure things out, and we’re only at 10 months. But I think it’s going well. I’m really enjoying it.”
