Scott Drummond, owner and operator of Copper Kettle Café, has been in the restaurant business all his life. Starting at McDonald’s as a young man, he then worked his way to manager at the Keg, and eventually led a team, teaching Boston Pizza franchisees about the restaurant business.
“When that burned me out, I thought I’d just do it myself,” says Scott. "We found this café through a friend. We were the first franchise for the Brown Dog Coffee Shoppe, and here we are today in our own independent way.”
Scott describes Copper Kettle Café as a come-as-you-are type of café, without the pretentiousness or the hustle and bustle you can find in some coffee shops.
“The aesthetic looks like a cottage; there’s lots of wood, and it’s very warm,” says Scott. “Because it’s a restaurant-style cafe, people have a little more time to sit and chat. I want it to be as carefree as possible. No rules.”
Scott credits his staff, many of whom started at Copper Kettle as teenagers and have grown with the business, for making it a success. “I think we have a formidable fraternity here with our staff members. We have a great group of people. That’s our highlight, is our staff by far. The way I look at the business is staff are first, guests are second, and it’s never going to change,” says Scott.
Copper Kettle Café’s menu spans a good selection of healthy soups, salads, sandwiches, all-day breakfast items, and of course those apple fritters, made while customers watch from the "fritter observatory", with Drummond Farm apples, battered and fried, then tossed in cinnamon sugar. There’s a little bit of folklore around Copper Kettle’s apple fritters, which entice people to drive from the GTA, Brantford, Guelph, and all over.
“All our soups are made from scratch; every baked good is made from scratch, from cookies to scones to muffins. The idea is we’re not buying anything from a bag. We don’t freeze anything; we make everything in-house,” says Scott.
The coffee at Copper Kettle comes from two local roasters — Reunion Island out of Oakville and, more recently, Altitude Coffee Roasters in Brantford. With them, Copper Kettle has created its own exclusive medium roast coffee called Maverick, which is sold at the café by the cup or in a takeaway bag.
Copper Kettle Café also features happenings like Open Mic Nights the first Thursday of the month from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and on Dec. 12 th they’ll be hosting a Gingerbread Decorating Evening from 6 to 9 p.m. where families will build gingerbread houses.
“It’s nice to get the families out here to do something different that’s not too costly. It’s important that it’s fun for everybody and cost-effective for all,” says Scott. “The population has skyrocketed in Flamborough throughout COVID and afterwards. I find the downtown core is starting to transform itself into a place that people want to go. There are some businesses down here that are destinations, like ourselves. We’re on the corner, which is awesome.
"Everybody has to drive by it to get home or go to work every single day. If you’re asking for directions, we’re the direction. 'It’s just left at the Copper Kettle, or 'it’s in the building beside the Copper Kettle', and a lot of people still refer to us as Brown Dog, which is also kind of an honour. It’s just part of their lexicon.”
For more about the Copper Kettle, visit their website or follow them on social media.
