Long-shuttered Geer Lodge café reopens with fresh focus

“A lot of my food is geared toward health...the nourishment of mind, body and soul.” —Chef Gina Trivelli-Young, owner of Manna Catering

NORTH CANAAN — After a pandemic-fueled, five-year hiatus, the public café space in the lobby of Geer Lodge is open for business with a new tenant and a fresh approach to eating healthy.

Chef Gina Trivelli-Young, who was classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, has opened Manna Catering in the café space formerly occupied by Railway Café.

She said her vision is to provide earth-to-table, fresh and locally sourced foods for lunch, dinner or to grab and go.

“A lot of my food is geared toward health, the nourishment of mind, body and soul,” said Trivelli-Young, who also runs a catering business and launched the now-closed Manna Dew Café in Millerton, New York.“If I can’t eat it, I won’t sell it.”

During an interview last week at Manna Catering, Trivelli-Young, who is also a holistic health coach and has built a loyal following as a caterer, spoke about her plans for the café space, her philosophy toward cooking and the challenges of drawing customers back to a space that has spent a few years in the dark.

She was joined briefly in the cozy eatery by Shaun Powell, CEO/CFO of Geer Village Senior Community, who expressed excitement about the Lodge’s new tenant.

An “Open” sign and daily menu welcomed visitors, and bouquets of seasonal, fresh flowers for sale from Crooked Oak Farm in Lakeville, graced the entrance.

“It’s great to see it open,” noted Powell. “Now we’re trying to get the word out. It has been closed since March 2020, the day the world changed,” he said referring to March 11, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the global pandemic. Now, he said, the challenge is to reinvigorate the public’s interest.

To help spread the word about Manna Catering’s arrival, Powell said several “joint promotional events” will be held in the upcoming weeks in conjunction with local businesses, the Y on campus, farms and employees.

“We’re anxious to help create a vibrant atmosphere here at the Lodge,” said Powell.

Chef, caterer, holistic healing coach

Trivelli-Young came to her passion for food at an early age, savoring the aromas of her mother’s Italian kitchen where there was always something fresh and healthy simmering on the stove.

Those early encounters with good food, she said, formed the cornerstone of her philosophy toward cooking: let the food speak for itself by using clean ingredients in their purest state, enhanced by fresh herbs and aromatics.

Her cooking, said the chef, “needs to be clean and it needs to be nourishing. Nothing artificial. It has to be of the highest quality.”

Rather than a style of cooking, the chef defines her approach as a way of respecting food and bringing it to the tale in a way that “accentuates its natural flavors and conserves its healing properties.”

In parallel with her interest and training in culinary arts was Trivelli-Young’s involvement with health and healing, which began with a teenage summer job in a health food store and culminating with her certification as a Holistic Nutrition Health Coach.

For more than two decades, she has been a private chef, caterer, holistic healing coach in the tri-state area. Her clients, she said, range from those seeking catering for private dinner parties to individuals with food restrictions and sensitivities who need healthy meals delivered to their homes.

“My philosophy is that food is the best medicine,” noted Trivelli-Young.

Her clients also consist of busy working mothers who want to provide simply prepared, nutritious meals to their families.

Introducing Friday Supper Club

The menu at Manna Catering is refreshed weekly using locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients and seasonal produce. Sandwiches, salads, soups and nourish bowls feature local meats and cheeses.

Customers can stop by and order lunch on the spot or call ahead to have lunch ready upon arrival.

On a recent visit, the menu included roasted pepper/tomato parmesan bisque, borsch soup, Thai shrimp curry with rice pilaf (pre-order), Tex-Mex chili and herb-goat cheese and smoked salmon sandwich with roasted peppers, cucumber, tomato and greens.

Also featured were an avocado, blue cheese, buffalo chicken salad wrap, classic chicken salad wrap with red grapes and fresh herbs, chicken fajita bowl or salad, roasted portobello mushroom and Vermont goat cheese salad made with roasted beets, raspberries and honey roasted pecans and vinaigrette.

Refreshments include smoothies, made with fresh fruit, coconut juice, collagen and monk fruit for natural sweetener, as sugar, she noted, “Is very bad for you,” as well as a large selection of organic drinks, Harney teas, kombucha and iced coffee. Desserts are made fresh daily.

Trivelli-Young said she is also excited to launch supper club night on Fridays. Customers can place orders for an appetizer, salad and entree by Tuesday and pick up their freshly made dinner on Friday afternoon.

“I like the old-fashioned concept of a supper club,” said the chef. “I’m meeting the needs of people who are very busy,” or second-homeowners who are coming up to the area for the weekend.

“Everything is made from scratch,” she noted, “and it’s important that I put my love into it every single week.”

Currently, Manna Catering is open to the public at Geer Lodge Wednesday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with catering available for private events at other times. Customers can order ahead to have lunch ready upon arrival by calling (860) 824-2610, or text (845) 233-8513.