Cait Bermuhler has wanted to come home to Pelham for some time. Since 2018, she and her wife, Jess Marshall, have operated the Stoke Deli Bar, which began life as a pop-up restaurant before finding its first home within the Bushell and Peck, on Lake Street in St. Catharines.
“That is where we first started the deli,” Bermuhler said. "And then we sort of outgrew that space, which is when we moved into De la Terre (a bakery on Geneva Street in St. Catharines).”
But all that time, the couple were on the lookout for a spot where they could set up shop in Fonthill, where Bermuhler was born and raised.
“We were there for a year, and we found this space in early spring,” Bermuhler said. “We had been looking in Fonthill before we moved to De la Terre. “The right space didn't come up.”
That all changed earlier this year when a small space became available at 1501 Pelham Street, located on the corner of Pelham and Hwy. 20. The spot was once home to the Travel Café (now up the street on Hwy. 20), and is now the location of the Stoke Deli Bar. The café specializes in sandwiches and salads created by Marshall, who is the culinary half of the couple. Bermuhler, meanwhile, is the public face of Stoke, taking care of marketing and overseeing Stoke at Home, the café’s line of spices and hot sauces.
Bermuhler and Marshall first worked together when the former was living in the U.K. and both were working Soho House in Bath, near Somerset. After a decade of travel and cooking together, they decided to put down roots in Niagara.
The overseas experience had a big impact on how the couple goes about their business, Bermuhler said.
“The thing that influenced Jess and I the most about working over there is we did everything from scratch. We make our own bread, we make our own pickles, we make our own condiments, everything is made here.”
People appreciate it, Bermuhler added.
“I think people want a unique experience, and it's kind of just automatically going to happen if you're making everything yourself. We work with local farmers to get what's in season and what's fresh and local.”
Among the local farms Stoke works with are Chez Nous Farm in Stevensville, where they source many of the chili peppers for the café’s hot sauces. Other farms the couple work with include Grumpy’s Greens in St. Catharines and McDermott’s Farm in Ridgeville.
So, what do people like? It’s tough to make that call, Bermuhler said.
“We change our menu multiple times per week, so we like to keep people on their toes,” she said with a big smile. “We like to use what's in season and what's inspiring us at any given moment.”
That being said, a popular choice among their customers is Stokes’ own chicken shawarma.
The name Stoke is a nod to the café’s humble beginnings in 2018, and references stoking a fire to keep its flames burning.
“When we first started, we were entirely live with fire because we were a pop-up restaurant,” Bermuhler said. “We didn’t have a brick-and-mortar location.”
Now they do and the couple are quickly establishing themselves as a popular spot for people to come in for a quick bite.
“I think the word slowly spreading around Fonthill and the surrounding area,” Bermuhler said.
Stoke Deli Bar is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week. More information on the restaurant can be found online at stokesdelibar.ca or on Instagram.
