Those that shop at Lismore Square would have seen two very familiar faces in the Crema cafe near Coles in the past week.

Tamaya Rose and Tony Pilato, the former owners of La Barraca and then Cafe Cappello have taken on a new challenge in the form of a cafe franchise Crema since March 21.

Although Tamaya is quick to point out that this is her baby, Tony is helping but taking a back seat in the decision-making process this time.

"We did 10 years at Cappello with Tony at the helm, both of us working crazy hours. We both eventually burnt out, Tony very much so towards the end. We had two beautiful children at that time, Amira is seven and Giuliano four. It was a big time, huge learning, huge growth and we built a family and a community, that's what that was."

You can tell the historical connection to Cappello was strong for Tamaya and Tony as they embedded themselves in the community not only with their cafe but also with their food truck which was seen at a number of charity events each year.

"We're all about Lismore, that's our home as a family. After the floods, it was never a matter of going anywhere else. This is home."

In what is now seen as good timing, Cappello was sold in December 2021 as Tamaya and Tony decided to have a year off before embarking on the next challenge. A three-month Italian holiday was even on the cards to scatter Tony's father's ashes and for a complete change of pace and scenery.

February 28 2022 put a stop to those plans like many others in our community.

"We spent the year putting together our commercial properties in the CBD. Between Tony and his brother Giovanni, they had the necessary carpentry and building skills to get the properties back in shape so our tenants could move back in as quickly as possible. We were very lucky."

"One of those was Steve and Julie Krieg, who also lost their home. That was our first priority."

Once the rebuilds were complete, Tamaya started looking around for another project to get back into, still within the hospitality industry.

"I had planned to go back into the CBD with another venture but it fell through. One of the properties downtown that I was looking at just didn't fit and it didn't work so I thought oh well I'll just sit back."

"All of that was ticking over I think because I ended up catching up with my head chef from Cafe Capello Nathan and his wife. She said to me, you know, Nate's up at Crema, well it's for sale. Do you think you should buy it? One thing led to another and after turning away and saying no, a few times I'm here and I'm really excited about it."

"It's a franchise which is so unusual for me and this is our first time buying a business at all. We usually make them, set them up and sell them."

"There's a lot of big ones (franchises) out there, I'm in a small one, and the whole concept as franchisees is that we share information or knowledge and we work as a team with head office and corporate. To have operators come into a franchise is very exciting for them because they get to use my industry knowledge and I get to use theirs. So, we share sharing the knowledge to build the franchise together and that was the agreement."

Tamaya explained the benefit is in staff training and how to make a great cup of coffee because a lot of the staff were young and didn't have consistent training as part of their life.

"They're not silly, they're good kids and, you know, they're smart," Tamaya said praising her team.

Look out for some food changes in the coming weeks as Tamaya brings more variety back to the menu but especially keep an eye on the food cabinet at the front of the shop.

"People will find that Tony and I will be bringing in our famous Italian imports and to look out for the cannoli because we will be bringing them back in. So, there'll be those sorts of signature items that we will bring back in."

"Plus, I get to pilot whatever I want to do. So basically, if I have ideas or specials that I feel will benefit my town and what my people want. I'll put that to corporate telling them that that's what I'd like to do and then we will do what's called a pilot, where basically, I'll do it and see how it runs here and then we can pass it down the line to other franchisees to pick up if it works for me."

As far as seeing old customers and friends again after more than a year away?

"Once our people know we're here I'm sure that they are going to come up and see us, it'll be amazing and we're very grateful that we have that beautiful following. We missed them all. It's been so much fun catching up with people. I love seeing kids that have grown so big now. I'm seeing all our old customers and catching up with what they've been doing, how they got through the floods, where they are now. It's been really nice."

"And I think Tony and I are both social beings, we really miss that. I think that's why hospitality always calls us because we need people."

You can say g'day to Tamaya and sometimes Tony at Crema cafe in Lismore Square near Coles.