Photograph by Lance Adkins
In an increasingly specialized retail and dining landscape, the concept of trying to be all things to all people is considered old-fashioned, if not bad business. But The Fairfield Market, a coffeehouse, deli, boutique, and cocktail bar, multitasks with aplomb. On any given day, you’ll see solopreneurs sipping oat-milk mochas and tapping away at laptops; a double date loosening up with cocktails; a middle-aged couple feeding their grandchildren; or a Bible study group poring over scripture. As the sun sets, the focus shifts to the 12-seat bar, with patrons soaking up craft beer and cocktails with plates of charcuterie.
Photograph by Lance Adkins
It’s the kind of ever-changing scene that founders Katie Reeder and Brandon Moore hoped for when they launched The Fairfield Market, their first endeavor as owners, last summer in a former bank building. “Ever since I met Brandon, we have been talking about opening up our own place, a sort of community living room,” says Reeder, who oversees the bar program. “A place you can share a meal with friends, or pick up a charcuterie board to go, or some wine or craft beer—and a hostess gift [from a small freestanding retail area]—to bring to a dinner party.”
Reeder and Moore have hospitality industry backgrounds (after a stint at Salazar, Moore concocted the popular Bloody Mary program at Newport’s Crazy Fox Saloon). But their former professions, in graphic design and theater, respectively, help give the space verve. Swathed in pale wood and earthy vintage decor, The Fairfield Market has an eclectic California-desert aesthetic.
Photograph by Lance Adkins
It doesn’t coast on its good looks, however. The fare, made almost completely in-house, is locally sourced and riffs on comfort food—think vegan biscuits and gravy and a scratch-made pimento cheese. Vegan doughnuts by Bellevue’s own Charnee’s Mindful Donuts sit in the deli case with pastries by Sixteen Bricks Bakery; coffee is by local roaster La Terza; and produce for pasta salads and sandwiches is sourced from Ohio Valley farms, thanks to delivery app Local Food Connection.
“As we grow, we want to cautiously add things without having to take anything away,” says Moore. Adds Reeder, “We want to support artists and other local businesses, do collaborations, maybe with guest chefs. We want to be an oasis…for everything.”
The Fairfield Market, 700 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue, (859) 360-0110
GOOD TO KNOW Office workers: Need a change of scenery? A private back room, with a conference table and a wall-mounted monitor for meetings, can be reserved at no cost any day of the week.
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