Business: WT Café Naperville
Address: Based in Lombard, delivery kitchens at 1451 Raymond Drive and 1155 Aurora Ave. in Naperville
Phone/website: 630-785-8495, www.wtcafe.com/naperville
Owners: Matt and Mimi Tolkin
Number of years in business: “We purchased the franchise in late 2014 and began serving meals in June 2015,” Mimi Tolkin said. “We moved to a bigger kitchen over Labor Day weekend. We had been sharing a kitchen with a caterer when we started, which was great because we had no idea what to expect. We quickly found, within the first year, we were going to need a bigger kitchen, a commissary kitchen, no storefront.”
What does this business do? “WT Café Naperville sells all-natural, high-quality and homemade meals to kids and families where they ‘live, learn and play.’ This means schools, camps, museums, parks and, soon, home delivery.” Meals are ordered online and delivered.
What was the impetus for starting this business? “We joined forces with our education and food background to bring about real change in what our kids are eating,” said Mimi, mother children ages 5, 9, 10 and 13 years. “They are learning health; they need to be practicing it too.”
What’s the best thing about being in Naperville? “Naperville is very family friendly so there are a lot of opportunities to get our high-quality meals to kids and families.”
When is your busiest time of year? “Definitely the weeks leading up to the new school year. We have expanded with the help of word-of-mouth. The first schools that took us on took a risk with us, too. But it’s been a growth curve. Now it’s easier for us. We are over the toughest part. Now we are looking to expand on expanding the programs we offer.”
What is the most popular item you serve? “The most popular items on the lunch menu are our homemade pizza and fresh fruit smoothies, but our dinner menu is growing in popularity and people are always asking us for our recipes.”
What is the thing you most like to do as part of your business? “You know, I was a teacher for so long. We love to go into the schools and see what the kids are enjoying. Hearing what they tell us. Kids are very honest, and they tell us what they love and they tell us what they hate. And that really helps us develop, but it’s also really fun.”
What’s your least favorite thing to do? “Paperwork. I just finished a whole week of looking at spread sheets and all I could see are swirls at the end of it.”
What is the best thing about owning your own business? “The best part is that it’s ours and we are able to participate in our own community in such a positive way. We can grow the business based on trends we see and input from our customers. Another benefit is that our family all participates in some way. We have a large dining room table in the WT kitchen and there have been many an afternoon where our kids are acting as taste testers or doing their homework while we work.”
What is the biggest downside to owning your business? “No such thing as 9 to 5, let alone a vacation or sick day!”
What is the biggest misconception about your business? “Often people will hear, ‘school lunch business’ and think we are your typical, old-fashioned school lunch. We are a far cry from the lunch ladies of old! We do the dinner programs as well, and we’ve had so many of our customers say how they were pleasantly surprised, as adults, that the foods weren’t just ‘kids foods’ or ‘lunch foods’, and that we offer so much more than that.”
How would you describe your business philosophy? “We are parents and we understand kids. We create menus with that in mind and we also understand the value of great customer service. We treat our customers the way we want to be treated, and we expect our employees to do the same.”
What advice would you give someone thinking about starting a business? “My advice would be to be sure you are ready for the roller coaster ride of your life! There are obstacles you can’t even imagine and you need to be able to take each as they come. But the rewards are worth it.”
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Daina Saleh is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.