Little Building Cafe recently opened in downtown Starkville, bringing an artistic New York City cafe flavor to the streets of the South.
“I lived in Brooklyn for years and when my husband and I moved to Starkville, I missed the New York cafes,” owner Annie Coggan said.
Coggan is also an assistant professor in the College of Architecture, Art and Design at MSU.
Muffins, biscuits, cakes, pies, sandwiches and a variety of coffees can all be found at the cafe. Soups with organically grown vegetables are a specialty.
“I think the people were a little shocked at the small menu, like the space. I guess they were expecting more things,” Coggan said.
The food choices were based on locally grown foods. Coggan said she wanted pure food grown by farmers. She wanted to support the local food market and farmers in her business the way that New York City dining establishments do.
“I wanted organic, healthy food for healthy brains. I think that respect for freshness and farmers have diminished. I wanted to bring that back, especially since there are farms all over Mississippi,” Coggan said.
Growing up in the restaurant business, Coggan said she dreamed of owning and designing her own place. The building, which is white and blue, offers a bright and artistic addition to the downtown area.
“My inspiration was the blue sky. I wanted a recycle and reuse design,” Coggan said. “I found the chairs in junk shops. I was inspired to use things that were thrown away.”
Coggan said she wanted to make not only the food green, but the building as well. The building is as sustainable and energy-efficient as can be. To conserve water, the building has solar heated water and the wood for the floors in the apartment, located in the back of the building, was recovered from the Mississippi Brick Company.
“We hopefully want to start a trend of green establishments. It was a big decision to open up in downtown Starkville because I wanted a place that was walkable, using cars less,” Coggan said.
Coggan said some of her students have come to the cafe and have enjoyed the food and the scenery.
“We opened in the middle of the semester, so students don’t really know about it because they start to buckle down on their studies around that time and don’t come downtown that much,” Coggan said.
Sophomore biological engineering major Emily Smith has not yet visited the cafe but is optimistic about it.
“The only coffeehouse I know of in Starkville is Strange Brew and it really doesn’t have anywhere to hang out. I think a new coffeehouse in Starkville would be a great place to go with my friends to hang out and study,” Smith said.
Smith said she feels the green movement is a good thing to bring not only to Starkville but especially to the MSU campus.
“I think being green is always good. I think Starkville is already on the path to being green with the recycling plant, but with MSU receiving a D grade on being sustainable, there is much left to be done,” she said.
Smith said she enjoys the traditional Southern food that Mississippi is known for, but would like to see more variety outside of Southern dining.
“There are some restaurants that serve more modern food, but I would say a majority of dining choices in the Starkville area are of the Southern nature,” she said.
Smith also said she wishes there was a wider variety of healthy foods.
“I wish there was a place such as whole foods market close by. I love fresh fruits and vegetables, but there isn’t a good place in Starkville to buy these,” she said.
Senior political science major Erien Watson said she thinks going green is a good thing but will face major obstacles.
“Green is good, but with the fast paced, electronic age that is our lifestyle, it will be very hard to achieve,” she said.
In January, Coggan will be hosting a lecture series at the cafe with different speakers on green issues and Robin Carol give a lecture on artificial lighting.
“Our first big event will be a Valentine’s Day dinner and we will have outdoor events in the spring. I just want to tell the students and everybody to just come on down,” she said.
Little Building Cafe is open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast and lunch and is located at 205 Lafayette Street.