Former owners return, and Irving Farm returns to its roots

MILLERTON — The recent changes at Irving Farm Coffee House on Main Street have been more than just cosmetic. Owner Steve Dalton has sold the coffee shop and restaurant back to its original owners, David Elwell and Steve Leven of Irving Farm Roasting Co.Irving Farm started out in 1996 as a coffee shop on Irving Place in Manhattan, with a coffee roasting facility in Millerton. Elwell and Leven opened the Irving Farm Coffee House here on Main Street in 2003, opened the Irving Farm Coffee Company on Seventh Avenue in 2008 and, most recently, a coffee shop on West 79th Street.Though the retail outlets were doing well, the wholesale coffee business was so successful that the partners decided to sell the Millerton shop a few years after it opened. Dalton, who had owned a small restaurant in North Canaan, purchased the business in 2006 and continued to operate it as Irving Farm Coffee House. He sold only Irving Farm brand coffee and kept many of the menu items that had helped make the restaurant a popular breakfast and lunch spot for locals and weekenders.Dalton put the business on the market last year, and Elwell and Leven decided to buy it back. Store Manager Kathy Shapiro said that, in addition to some cosmetic changes to the Millerton location, the new owners are making adjustments to the brews and blends being offered, and trying to get back to basic but very high-quality beans. Flavored coffees are no longer on the menu. This is seen as a way to support the idea of returning to a more natural coffee product.Although the flavored beverages were popular with customers, Shapiro said, the beans have to be mixed with flavoring agents. “Getting back to the original means no additives,” she explained. “While some people may not like the change, we hope they’ll try our roasts of the week and experience the flavors from different coffee crops.” While the company has grown over the years, Shapiro said developing a close relationship with every customer is still important.“When we make espresso drinks, we make them with intent,” she said. “We can only make one at a time and we focus hard on the process, to deliver that drink to the customer as best we can. We want to carry that philosophy into everything we do.”Aside from the newly minimal Irving Farm Coffee House interior, Shapiro highlighted some less visible but equally important changes at the restaurant.“We have a brand new espresso machine and a barista trainer in New York. She comes up here, and we send staff down to train. It’s not a one-time class. She works long and hard, and over time you can see the quality and improvement in the coffee we make,” she said.The company intends to bring back musical events, along with introducing coffee tastings when the renovation is complete.“We’re looking around and keep seeing more that needs to be done, but we’re doing it slowly to make as little impact as possible on the community,” Shapiro said. “People come in every day and we don’t want to disrupt the service or their routines.”Irving Farm Roasting Company will be relocating its roasting facility, too. The business has gained approval from the North East Planning Board to build on Route 22, just north of the NAPA store. The town of North East includes the village of Millerton.Dan Streetman, who is the company’s vice president of wholesale and green coffee buying, said he feels Millerton is the perfect place to put the new Irving Farm business model into practice.“Millerton has been so important to our company for so many years now, and it’s incredibly exciting to be working toward becoming a bigger part of this community. We’re thrilled to have this unique platform to showcase our coffee and all the work we put into crafting our product,” he said.As for the Main Street coffee shop, he said, “We’ve always been a company that was approachable and warm, just like the Millerton location. We’ll continue to evolve what we’re doing here in the store but that will never change.” For more information on Irving Farm Coffee and Irving Farm Roasting Company, go to www.irvingfarm.com or call 518-78-2020.