News
Fluff To Offer Alcohol And Dinner
By: Sara Brumfield | Athens Messenger
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With beer now on tap and wine bottles ready for uncorking, Fluff Bakery and Catering on Court Street is doing a bit of revamping of its business model, including absorbing its Rickshaw Thai restaurant into the downtown eatery.
Rickshaw Thai, which was located in the Eclipse Company Town in The Plains, served dinner at that location for the final time last week. Jason and Jessica Kopelwitz — who own both Fluff and Rickshaw Thai — opted to bring some of the Rickshaw menu to Fluff, which will begin serving dinner on Tuesday.
According to Jason Kopelwitz, operating two eateries was spreading him a bit thin.
“I can’t do it all,” he said. “We wanted to get everything under one roof.”
Fluff had previously focused on breakfast and lunch with its kitchen closing at 5 p.m. But with the addition of a new liquor license, Kopelwitz said alcohol is now available all day at the restaurant and expanded kitchen hours will begin Tuesday.
Table service for dinner will be held Tuesday-Saturday from 5-10 p.m. Kopelwitz said the couple hopes to offer table service for breakfast and lunch in the future as well, but said the eatery doesn’t have enough staff to make that possible right now.
The dinner menu will differ from Fluff’s regular breakfast and lunch items, incorporating some dishes from Rickshaw, but also some new items. Kopelwitz described the new dinner menu as “part Asian food, part comfort food, and some Asian comfort food.”
Some dinner items will include curries, burgers, pork sandwiches, an open-face meatloaf sandwich and a bratwurst sandwich. Kopelwitz said he’s still testing a few new dishes.
Unlike at Rickshaw Thai, reservations will not be required for dinner at Fluff.
“It’s a first-come, first-served basis,” he said.
Kopelwitz said dinner prices will also be a bit cheaper than they were at Rickshaw. He said the average cost for dinner will be around $12 per person.
To better reflect its new business model, the name of the restaurant will be changed from Fluff Bakery and Catering to The Fluff, Kopelwitz said.
The Fluff will feature three craft beers on tap, according to Kopelwitz, which will be rotated on a regular basis. The restaurant will also serve mead and bottled beer, plus wine by the bottle or glass. Cocktails will also be added to the mix next week.
Fluff also serves dinner at the West End Cider House on West Washington Street in Athens every Tuesday and the Jackie O’s Tap Room on Stimson Avenue on Thursdays, both beginning at 5 p.m.
Fluff will continue to be a bakery and provide catering as well.
As for the former Rickshaw location, Kopelwitz told The Messenger on Tuesday that Chris Monday would be operating The Purple Wolf out of the site. Monday had been serving Sunday brunch under the name The Purple Wolf at the site for the past few months.
However on Wednesday, Monday posted on The Purple Wolf’s Facebook page that he will no longer be offering brunch.
“I know my limits and it was about to become too much for me to handle,” he wrote, adding that he wants to spend more time with his children. “There are many reasons why my time in Eclipse is ending and none of them are negative. It has been wonderful serving all of you and I hope all of you that I have will fondly remember the short time we were there. I am looking into continuing catering nights in town.”