Whisk owner Billy Bryan is planning to expand the coffee shop and bakery with a new location in the Library of Virginia in downtown Richmond. (BizSense file)
A Shockoe Bottom bakery and coffee shop is doubling down in the city.
Whisk is planning to open a cafe in the Library of Virginia at 800 E. Broad St. in early January, owner Billy Bryan said.
Whisk will take over the space in the state library that was formerly occupied by Can Can Cafe, a now-shuttered spinoff location of Carytown-based French restaurant Can Can Brasserie.
Bryan said the expansion would allow Whisk to tap into what he called an underserved area for coffee, and the location would be able to serve not only people at the library but also nearby city and state government workers and those working at the General Assembly building.
“While you’re not getting walk-by pedestrians, you are able to capture and serve a huge market down there, with City Hall being next door, the staff in the library, the state buildings across the street,” he said.
Whisk, which continues to operate its original location at 2100 E. Main St., plans to serve coffee, baked goods, smoothies, sandwiches, soups and salads at the library location.
Library of Virginia Executive Director Scott Dodson said in a prepared statement that Whisk’s entry would support the library’s mission of being a community space.
“Whether our guests are here to see an exhibition, hear a book talk, do family research, or just looking for a place to meet, Whisk will add to the Library’s ability to serve as a public square for the city and Commonwealth,” Dodson said.
Whisk is leasing the cafe space in the atrium on the library’s first floor. Dedicated to preserving the state’s history and culture, the library says it attracts nearly 100,000 visitors annually with its exhibitions, events and resources, and has a collection of more than 130 million historic items.
The cafe has a dedicated seating area that can accommodate 50 people. Bryan declined to share the investment being made to launch the new Whisk location.
The Library of Virginia announced on social media in early September that Can Can was out, and that it was on the hunt for a new operator for the café space. Bryan said that after a short period of discussion, the library and Whisk were able to come to an arrangement for the coffee shop to take over the space.
“Over the course of several months we were able to determine it would be a good partnership and we’d be a good fit. Throughout the process, they talked to some other operators as well and they felt we most closely modeled what they were looking for,” Bryan said.
Bryan felt he could bring a unique perspective to the library-bound cafe. He worked as a librarian in a New York public library for a few years. He noted that his own love of books drew him to the partnership with the state library, and that Whisk has come to do more business with nonprofit and educational groups.
“Being able to marry my love of books and education with my love of culinary, it seemed like a natural progression. One of the things we’ve started to do as an organization is work more heavily with nonprofits and with organizations that are education-minded or arts-minded, either in philanthropy or our wholesale business,” he said.
In addition to selling coffee and pastries, Whisk also offers culinary classes and is expected to do so at the library space as well.
Whisk’s first day of business in the library is expected to be Jan. 6. It will be open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Library of Virginia’s atrium cafe space prior to the arrival of Can Can Cafe in 2022. Whisk is now preparing to take over the space and planning to open there in early January. (BizSense file)
The opening of the library cafe follows the closure earlier this year of Whisk’s western Henrico outpost at 8308 Staples Mill Road.
Bryan said the location, which was a neighborhood market concept, didn’t catch on as expected. Whisk shifted the Henrico outpost away from customer-facing retail into a catering facility before closing it entirely.
“Honestly, it’s just not a good location. The traffic just wasn’t sustainable for the expenses you were incurring there. While customers had asked us to be in a West End area, that particular area wasn’t necessarily the demographic that’s a Whisk customer,” he said.
The new library cafe is the latest chapter in Whisk’s nearly 10-year history. It first opened at 2100 E. Main St. in 2015 under the ownership of Morgan Botwinick, who sold the business to Bryan a little under three years ago.
Can Can’s run in the library cafe space began in late 2022 and ended shortly after Can Can was acquired this year by Housepitality Family, a local restaurant group that runs Boathouse and other eateries. Housepitality continues to operate Can Can’s flagship location in Carytown.