About Us
In our kitchen, the mixer is almost always whirring away, and the ovens always warm. We have dedicated our days and nights to providing you with the most amazing treats you have ever experienced. Yes, experienced. Because this doesn’t just about tasting something good, it’s the entire experience from start to finish. Our commitment to you is to provide impeccable service, a friendly atmosphere and a sweet treat to indulge your senses in decadent delight. We also offer Bubble teas and Oberweis milk that come in a glass bottle fresh from the farm just like the olden days. Looking for custom cake or special event desserts? We do that too, actually it is what started our business! We added a deli menu which gives many great lunch and dinner options.
Soulard's cafe is truly your one stop shop to fill your belly with delicious food and drinks!
Soulard's cafe is truly your one stop shop to fill your belly with delicious food and drinks!
A Dream Come True & History Repeated
Soulard's is owned and operated by a local family with deep roots in the Coloma area. Owners Taylor (Soulard) and Matt Prestidge opened Soulard's at the present location (126 N. Church St Coloma MI) in late July of 2018. The business started in about 2011 as Soulard's Sweets in an addition built off of their home and Taylor specialized in custom cakes and dessert orders. Over the years, the business continued to grow which meant outgrowing the space. On a whim, they started researching space in the local downtown area. In what seems like a plan that was already in place for them, the perfect building became available at the perfect time. Matt, along with their dads, put in many hours of work renovating the historic building at 126 N. Church St. This building has been in Coloma for over 100 years and has housed a grocery store, a hardware store, a clothing store, a pizza place, the infamous Deli by the Park, and most recently D.W. Hammonds Chocolates.
Opening the cafe continues a family tradition for both Taylor and Matt. Matt has always had a love for cooking which stems from his parents owning the Waffle House in Watervliet while he was growing up. He has also dabbled in being a line cook through working at local establishments. Taylor has unique history in that her great-great grandfather Edwarde Soulard was a famous chef in France and Chicago. Edwarde was well known in Europe, even cooking for Kings & Queens, and traveled as a chef for shows and markets. He was so famous in fact, that when the famous Drake Hotel in Chicago opened in the 1920's, the hotel officials brought him, his wife, and their 3 children to America so he could be the hotel's executive chef. Their vacation home was in Coloma near the lake and that is where his son (Taylor's great grandfather) met his wife, settled, and lived ever since. Taylor never met her great-great-grandfather, Edwarde Soulard, who retired from the Drake Hotel in the 1940s and died in 1957. But, his love for baking was passed down through the generations and some of the cookies, pastries, and special menu items featured at Soulard's can date back to Edwarde. He taught many of his secret tips and recipes to her great-grandmother, Goldie Soulard. They were all by memory, he didn’t have anything written down, and he refused to write anything down so it was all by motion and memory. Grandma Goldie would scribble little notes here and there secretly because he didn’t want stuff written down. Taylor got her love of baking from Goldie Soulard and her grandmother, Valerie Soulard, who is married to Goldie’s son, Dennis Soulard.
In the shop are photos of family, including historical pictures of great-great grandpa Edwarde. One is a copy of an advertisement he was in for a People’s Gas Automatic Gas Range.The ad reads: “The famous executive chef of The Drake, Chef Soulard, prepared delicious meals in London’s Great West Royal Hotel, where his guests included kings and queens, such as King Edward VII of England.”
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In the News
Read our grand opening article in the Herald Palladium newspaper from 07/23/2018.
Read our amazing review in the food critic section of MailMax, by Glen Head on 02/02/2019.