Rushford native Kristin Burdey always had a soft spot for the idea of owning a little eatery, but never really gave the concept any detailed planning. Instead she dove into work for a franchise restaurant and excelled in her position. Throughout her time there, she saw little things she would do differently if she ever owned her own place.
“I met my husband in the restaurant setting, where we discovered that we can work really well together,” she says. “He had a dream, unbeknownst to me, of opening a restaurant someday, so when I suggested it in jest, I guess we were on to something.” March 1, 2013, the couple officially opened the doors of Burdey’s Café on Main Street in Peterson. Since then, the cafe has built up quite the following, thanks in part to the phenomenal menu items, astounding service, and that sought after small-town familiarity.
“I am fiercely, almost stupidly loyal,” she notes proudly. “I am very passionate about serving and creating good food, but even if we served lousy food, it would be secondary. The number of people who meet for fellowship; the fact that the dining room is more a gathering place for friends to visit; the Bible studies that are held in our back room; the banter with the regular customers, and the relationships that develop amongst people; it is the pinnacle of small town living. It’s why I love it here and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
That’s not to say there aren’t challenges that Burdey has had to face. “Unexpected things like major equipment failures, three summers worth of road construction that almost did us in the first couple of years, and discouragement when people let you down or when you inadvertently let people down,” she reveals. “It is also challenging to work with your husband all day every day, in a high-pressure environment,” she admits. “You either work smoothly like a well-oiled machine or you resent having to breathe the same air.” The couple draws on a rock solid marriage and their faith to help see them through.
“It took time to figure out exactly what our roles were going to be,” she adds. “Before we opened, I didn’t have a clue what I would do, because I was a server, and they already had servers at the café we were buying. What would I do?” Now, there are more responsibilities than she could have ever imagined, yet she finds a way to make it through each day, smiling all the while.
“It’s hard to have an unending supply of energy,” she adds. Burdey is also mom to Gabe and Annika and stepmom to Steven’s sons Isaiah and Isaac and between family, work, and her commitments to local events such as Rushford Area Society for the Arts, and Rushford Lutheran Church Praise Team, her days are packed. “Mornings are very early, days off are few and far between. Time management: so many things to do all the time and no way humanly possible to do even half of them. There are many areas in which work has been needed,” she acknowledges.
Still, she wouldn’t trade it for the world. “The best part of owning a restaurant is the people. We have fallen in love with so many of our customers and employees! Even though I have lived here my whole life, there are a whole bunch of people that I never really knew. I wait tables in the early morning hours, and everyone has their own mug. I even have the shelves labeled with their names,” she laughs, with one of the truest, heartiest laughs you’ll ever hear.
“My absolute favorite thing to do is holiday dinners. The last couple years we have held our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at the café,” she adds. “Now, we’re not open like Walmart or Perkins, but we let our customers know about it and what time dinner is.” Aware of the occasional or sometimes palpable gaps in the lives of others holidays, she makes it a point to be open, if possible. “Often times, families get together on the weekend. Day of, there’s nothing going on, so we like to get our café family together.”
Bringing family into the business and not having to sacrifice all their time together is another highlight for Burdey. “I love that my children are able to grow up in it. It’s a trade-off, working so many hours and not being at home. But in your own business, you can be flexible with your schedule if need be.” Burdey’s proud to have employed her kids and the kids of people she grew up with. “It’s cool knowing that we are the first job for a lot of kids and it’s an honor to teach them initial job skills and hopefully get them to enjoy what they’re doing. You learn so much more than you’d think by working in a restaurant.”
In 2015, Burdey herself learned more than she ever expected when her husband, Steven, fell ill and spent a month in the hospital. “Most of the managerial skills I have were learned on the fly. I learned how to open and close, to cook and do orders, pay the bills; essentially how to do both our jobs at the same time.” She’s grateful Steven healed and was able to take back his responsibilities, but I recognizes it’s led her to do more now than she used to do.
To all those women out there thinking of being their own boss, Burdey has words of both caution and joy. “There are definitely sacrifices that you have to make in other areas of your life, because owning a business is a more than full time job. You will need to adjust in order to take care of your marriage, your children, and yourself.”
“Although you can set your own schedule, it is very hard to take time off, so don’t plan on vacationing,” she says with her trademark humor. “It’s hard to even get to Winona anymore or any place that has the same hours. It’s also hard to trust anyone else with your duties, so it’s hard to let go enough to step away like you need to do, making time and having the mental energy for any of the other endeavors in your personal life. I need a nap to get to the ‘other half’ of my life each day,” she jokes.
Always one to laugh away difficulties and to focus on the blessings, she adds, “To succeed you must be resilient, adaptable, courageous, eternally optimistic, and you have to believe that God will provide for all your needs, be it staff, customers, finances, and the personal strength to endure day after day, because he has shown us time and again that he does and he will.”
“We couldn’t do it without the prayers we pray and that others pray on our behalf. It is true that all things can be done through Christ who gives us strength, but that doesn’t mean that you should try to do all things,” she chuckles. “You have to do what you love, and love what you do, or there’s no point in doing it. I do this because I truly love my customers… even the ornery ones.”
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