Comfort food coming to bookstore

photo by Jessica Valerio

Owner Patti Weaver talks about plans for her new restaurant, Faith's Comfort Foods, located in the bookstore space vacated by the Book-N-Bean Bistro. Weaver would like to offer the students of the University of La Verne and the community members a place to enjoy a homemade meal.

by Beatriz Mendoza
Staff Writer

For more than five months, the Book-N-Bean Bistro was a neglected space inside the University of La Verne bookstore, but this month it will be re-opened as Faith’s Comfort Foods, and potentially, La Verne’s newest hot spot.

“I want to provide something for the La Verne community,” said Patti Weaver, owner and ULV alumna. “I want a place where students and faculty can go and have a home cooked meal.”

Weaver began making dinner for friends who had no time to cook after a long day’s work. Before she knew it, her home was becoming too small to accommodate the orders of her growing customers. Weaver finally decided it was time to find a home for her business and chose the empty space inside the ULV bookstore.

“I’m planning to redo the patio to make it cozy,” she said. “I want to add flowers, more chairs, a patio arbor with climbing roses and a picket fence at the entrance.”

The inside of Faith’s Comfort Foods will have a French country style theme with hand painted windows, vines at the top edges of the walls and a bulletin board accessible for students to post flyers and other important information. The menus will include a monthly changing assortment of food, such as salads, soups, pasta, roasts and desserts. “Some of the recipes are my mother’s recipes, some are my grandmother’s and some are my recipes,” Weaver said. She will cook and run the shop with the help of family and friends. “We’re shooting for March 15 to be the opening day,” she said.

Although the University does not have a direct affiliation with Faith’s Comfort Foods, Weaver said she will offer a discount for ULV students and staff. In addition to selling dinner, lunch and snacks, Faith’s Comfort Foods will sell gift packages, cookbooks and vases.

“I’m not going to compete with Starbucks or other businesses around here,” Weaver said. “I will sell simple homemade cakes and baked goods, but it won’t be anything fancy.”

“The Book-N-Bean had a lot of competition because of the donut shops,” said Aaron Neilson, director of dining services.

“But Faith’s Comfort Foods is different from coffee and donuts,” he said. Weaver decided that she would give the food business a six month test drive. “When I think of my shop, I think about family, friends and faith,” Weaver said. “My family and friends are very important to me, and it is always a step of faith to start a business.”