The Vanilla Bean Cafe

The Vanilla Bean Café opened in 1989 with a seating capacity of 16, today we seat 90 inside and 40 outside! Located in a restored, early 19th century barn in scenic Pomfret, Connecticut, The Vanilla Bean Café is owned and operated by the Jessurun Family, Barry, Brian and Eileen, with occasional appearances by and help from the rest of the family.

Our Philosophy was simple: "Create a place where we would feel comfortable and serve food that we would want to eat. If we wouldn't eat it, we certainly wouldn't serve it."

Homemade soups, sandwiches, and light dinners comprise our basic menu, but daily specials made with creativity, imagination and seasonal ingredients, spice up the menu. Baked goods, such as muffins, bagels, croissants, and cookies, come out of our ovens every morning, not to mention our decadent desserts.

Our goal is to serve you good homemade food in a comfortable, casual atmosphere. As Eileen told a customer, "We provide comfort foods in a comfortable place."
We hope that you enjoy our establishment and will come back and see us again soon!

The Vanilla Bean Café offers a FULL MENU breakfast on weekends and a partial breakfast menu on weekdays., Lunch and dinner are served seven days a week (Always with a vegetarian selection and many times seafood).

From grilled items, salads, build your own sandwiches and and daily specials, lunch has something for everyone. DINNER is an excellent choice! Our Chef, Brett Laffert does magic with whatever he chooses to create.

We offer live ENTERTAINMENT including many popular folk and bluegrass acts. You can download our in house entertainment publication, BEAN SOUP, for future artist bookings and other Café information.

The Bean has been the forum for many types of entertainment. It started at our first "Java Jive", or open mic, in 1990. Over the years, we have hosted many benefits and provided space for many different genres of artistic presentation. It seemed that this type of entertainment, that is all based in the Folk Tradition, just wanted to be here.

The entertainment has ranged from Celtic Folk to Cajun Zydeco, from story telling to poetry reading. Over the years we have tried many things to help create an awareness for this type of entertainment, and continue to do so, including here on the World Wide Web.

When there is print and radio media to help support a venue, it can work - without it; it's a struggle. We have something in our favor; we're a restaurant primarily and a music venue second. We can support this type of entertainment, but we need your help as well.

Click here for more information and directions.

Please help to spread the word about this place. Help keep the Folk Tradition alive in Northeastern Connecticut and in New England.

The Jessurun Family