Cafe Lotte, Little People's Guild, an intriguing stop in Lottsburg
If you're like many Northern Neck residents and visitors, you've probably driven past the big yellow building on the south side of Route 360 in Lottsburg and wondered about what's inside. You owe it to yourself to stop and check it out, especially if it's around lunchtime.
Proprietors Marty and Joyce Stewart operate Café Lotte and The Little People's Guild at 2816 Northumberland Highway. The Little People's Guild offers a wide assortment of gifts, antiques, family heirlooms, art and crafts. Café Lotte` provides excellent “home cooking” in a casual, yet elegant, atmosphere.
“We started out as a little coffee shop. It just grew over the years,” Marty said.
The Stewarts bought the old Watkins General Store building in 1995. The building was constructed in 1895, with the west wing added in 1926 to serve as the Lottsburg Post Office. The building was in good shape when they bought it, but needed some cosmetic attention.
“I don't think there was any paint left on the exterior when we bought it,” Marty said.
At the time, Joyce was a veteran of Northern Neck craft shows, showing her work at seasonal festivals throughout the area. And therein lies the story behind the name, “Little People Guild.”
“At first people thought we were a daycare center, but the name actually comes from these little gnomes Joyce makes,” Marty said.
These aren't just any gnomes, either. They are Northern Neck Gnomes, made from pine combs, bits of holly and other natural elements of the Northern Neck. Marty even wrote a fictional history of the little creatures, explaining they became stranded here after stowing away aboard the ship of a Norwegian explorer, who beat Capt. John Smith to the region by a few years.
Joyce still makes the Gnomes, of course, but stays very busy managing the expanding restaurant, which still features her incredible desserts.
“I've collected these recipes over the years, although many came from my mother,” Joyce said.
The desserts include bread pudding and bourbon sauce, chocolate cherry bourbon cake, and a wide variety of old fashioned cheesecakes.
“Some customers have asked to buy an entire cake to take with them, but since these desserts are made fresh, we can't do that without advance notice. But if you can give me five days notice, I can make you any of these cakes,” Joyce said.
While Joyce is creating dessert masterpieces, Marty has perfected the slow smoking bar-be-que process that is now Café Lotte's trademark. The menu features smoked pork, chicken, beef, turkey and North Atlantic salmon.
“We use hickory, cherry, apple and mesquite to smoke the meat, and mainly use the fruit woods for the salmon,” Marty said.
“We smoke the pork for 14 hours and hand-pull the meat. When you smoke the pork that long all the fat melts away, so the meat you are left with is very lean,” he explained.
The rest of the menu benefits from the same attention to detail; homemade soups, tempting deli sandwiches, homemade potato salad and more down-home delicacies. Top it off with the beverage of your choice, and there too the choices are many. Besides a nice assortment of wines and beers, Café Lotte serves up authentic espresso.
“We hope everyone will come visit us. We've tried to create an atmosphere where everyone is comfortable,” Joyce said.
The Little People's Guild and Café Lotte is open for lunch Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday and Saturday for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can call them at 529-5938.
