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Something good is brewing in downtown Nicholasville.

There’s a new coffee house at 223 N. Main St.

Kara Hoagland, owner of the @ Oak & Main, and her brother, Jason Kingsland, have renovated the space next door to her permanent makeup salon and turned it into a restaurant that serves coffee, espresso drinks and baked goods.

They expect to open Wednesday.

Jason has more than two decades of experience in hospitality, including being a restaurant manager and bartender. He’ll be hands on at the coffee shop, which is expected to open this week, and Kara will handle “the back end of things,” such as marketing.

“We’ve been talking about doing this for years,” Jason said.

Both siblings are coffee connoisseurs, and as a former Starbucks barista, he knows how to make the drinks. He knows the difference, for example, between a latte and a dry cappuccino.

“We both love coffee. Love, love coffee,” he said.

They’ve put $35,000 into the business and know it’s a bit of a risk to open during the pandemic, but they’re convinced they can make it. 

Besides the courthouse, there are attorney and accountant offices, banks and other businesses downtown to provide a regular clientele, and many people pass through every day. There also is parking in front of and beside the building and in a lot behind it on First Street.

The coffee shop is spacious, so there is plenty of room for tables to be at least six feet apart, allowing room for about 25 customers at 50 percent capacity. And they plan to do a lot of carryout. Jason said people will be able to order what they want online with their smartphones and pick it up when they want it.

The website is www.atoakandmain.com, and there is a tab at the top for Coffee @ Oak & Main.

Jason said they want to “be mindful” of people’s time, because they’re aware that, because of COVID, many people don’t want to stand in line for coffee.

With online ordering, customers can order Sunday night from the menu on the website and pick up a hot beverage at 8 a.m. Monday on their way to work, he said.

“I think it can work really well,” he said.

“Not only will we do individual baked goods, but we can do bulk orders for events if we have those orders in at least 24 hours ahead,” Kara said.

Their dad, Dan Kingsland, will be the baker, and Kara said the menu will include cookies, bars, cakes, brownies, occasionally cinnamon rolls and muffins and seasonal specialties.

Drinks will include drip coffee, latte, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha and other standard coffee shop choices, and all can be served hot or iced.

“And as we get more time open under our belts, I plan on adding a cold brew, iced herbal tea, and use my mixology knowledge to combine different syrups and ingredients for specialty drinks,” Jasons said.

He said they haven’t applied for an alcoholic beverage license, but depending on how the business goes, it could expand to include wine or alcoholic coffee beverages in the future.

Kara said there won’t be salads, soups or sandwiches, but they might partner with local food trucks to provide a variety of foods for different occasions.

The shop will have a local and regional flavor.

“We want to focus on as many local and Kentucky products as possible,” Jason said.

They will be selling coffee from City Roastery in Georgetown, and will offer other brands as well.

“Every two or three weeks, I want to try, like, different Kentucky coffee roasteries,” he said.

There are several roasteries in and around Lexington and Louisville and even one in Wilmore, he said.

Kara said that “once things are closer to normal,” they have ideas about growing the business.

“We’re hoping to take over the top of the building as well to turn that into an event space for small weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, stuff like that,” she said.

Coffee @ Oak & Main’s hours of operation will be Monday-Friday, 7 am. to 1 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and closed Sunday. They also plan to be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

When the weather gets warmer, they plan to have evening hours as well.

Besides ordering from the website, customers can contact the shop by email at coffee@oakandmain.com or by phone at 859-241-3071.