Annika Young, Special to The Denisonian
Morning Harvest Cafe, a restaurant in downtown Newark, is bringing a familiar connection to Denison students through its food, hospitality and owners. Owned by two former Denison employees, this elevated breakfast restaurant reflects relationships and plans that grew outside Denison’s campus.
Leilah Ferrari ‘27 said that her boyfriend found the restaurant online, and before they arrived, they were both unaware of the owners’ ties to Denison.
“I was honestly amazed by how the restaurant looked,” Ferrari said. “It was aesthetically pleasing to me, and since I don’t usually eat out in Newark, I was really impressed.”
Morning Harvest Cafe co-owners Patrick Hofer and DJ Knight met while working at Denison. Hofer worked with Bon Appetit while they had a food service contract with Denison; he then transitioned to executive chef at Curtis Hall and left after almost a full school year. While at Curtis Hall, he developed a close working relationship with Knight, the hospitality director.
Hofer has been interested in opening a restaurant since the pandemic and was well aware of the many challenges associated, but he was certain about who he chose to open the business with.
“DJ was the logical choice. He has the front-of-house, hospitality side, taking care of the guest experience and making sure that all that’s tackled while I have the back of house, all of the food, taken care of,” Hofer said.
Their time working in Denison’s dining department was helpful when preparing to build their own menus, hire staff and create an inviting environment.
“[It] taught us a lot about being creative,” Hofer said. “Being that we had to change our menus three times a day every day, [we had to be innovative to] find things that appeal to the younger generation or things that are a little bit out of the ordinary.”
Hofer’s years of experience in the culinary industry, including his education at the Culinary Institute of America, helped shape the restaurant philosophy behind Morning Harvest Cafe.
“We source fresh ingredients, build flavor through scratch-made preparation, and pair it with genuine, family-friendly hospitality. Morning Harvest is designed to be your regular table for weekday breakfasts, weekend brunches, and casual lunch meetups alike,” Morning Harvest Cafe’s website states.
When deciding what kind of restaurant he wanted to start, Hofer looked toward an already established elevated breakfast chain.
“My wife and I have always really enjoyed First Watch as a restaurant,” Hofer said. “We didn’t have anything like that in Newark, so we kind of modeled Morning Harvest Cafe after that. Then bringing the local sourcing and finding stuff as close as we can to the restaurant and providing a great product at an affordable price is really what it’s all about. Being able to give back to the community in that same nature.”
Both Hofer and Knight grew in the Newark community, and were seeking the opportunity to stay close to their homes, as well as give back to their community, Newark was the natural choice for their restaurant. As Newark is roughly 15 minutes from the university, students often drive into Newark to shop and get food, and seeing as the restaurant has ties to Denison, Hofer expected that it would not be long until students discovered the new breakfast restaurant in the area.
“We love seeing the students come in at the restaurant; we’re fortunate that we’ve had quite a few of them,” Hofer said. “We’re hoping to make a bigger impact on Denison. We know that in this area there’s nothing like what we do, and I know that a lot of students have vehicles and have the ability to travel off of campus. We want to be able to give back,” Hofer said.
For students like Ferrari, seeing former Denison employees build a business of their own showcases the continued impact and support of the university community.
“They started off working in Denison hospitality, and now own their own restaurant, which I think is incredible. It also shows how welcoming and supportive the Denison community can be,” Ferrari said. “As soon as we saw Patrick, we felt that same friendliness and sense of community that we experience at Denison. The Denison community is so big, and that is something I really like because there is a strong sense of connection among everyone.”
Hofer hopes to strengthen that connection even further. When Morning Harvest Cafe opened, he reached out to Denison to explore whether the restaurant could accept Denison Dollars. He said that Denison Dollars are limited to Granville; however, if students bring in their Denison ID, they will receive 20% off their meal.
Hofer and Knight’s hopes for the future of Morning Harvest Cafe are to branch out into more small communities and open several more restaurants, as well as working on creating a catering side of their business that brings the same aspects of hospitality, food and quality to reach more people.