6 new downtown businesses greet Mt. Angel Oktoberfest visitors

MT ANGEL – The rush to get ready for this year’s Oktoberfest is reaching far beyond tents, trailers and temporary displays.

Six new downtown businesses have opened – or will do so in time for the annual German festival’s kickoff on Thursday, Sept. 13. A seventh establishment, the Benedictine Brewery’s new taproom, up the hill at Mount Angel Abbey, is poised to open too.

Thus, regular festival preparations unfolded alongside a burst of building renovations in the city’s downtown core.

Momente

Most visible was the transformation of Frank-N-Steins, a German restaurant and bar, into the updated venue Momente. Translated, the German moniker means “moments,” with owner Bob Bochsler hoping his customers will experience “many special moments with friends and family” there.

A 2005 graduate of Kennedy High School, Bochsler left his hometown to earn a civil engineering degree from Oregon State University and work in construction and design before becoming a Portland-based Realtor and property developer.

He bought the Frank-N-Steins building from his grandparents after it closed this summer and went to work with his design partner, Dani Zeghbib, to take down the building’s faux turrets and dungeon-style décor. To maximize light, he installed oversized glass doors and new windows in the building’s existing window frames.

“O’Fest is something you just don’t want to miss,” he said, explaining that the restaurant will be open later than usual and offer typical festival food, such as brats, burgers and fries, along with beer and wine.

After the festival ends Sept. 16, he’ll give the 2,250-square-foot space some final upgrades and open with a permanent menu of food and drinks. He plans to display his late father’s high school MVP football helmet and is soliciting other Mt. Angel memorabilia and photographs from anyone interested in bringing them in to 185 E. Charles Street.

More:Things to do and eat at Mt. Angel's Oktoberfest Sept. 13-16

Tony’s Place

Nearby, at 125 Garfield Street, Tony’s Place, an Italian dinner restaurant, has been operating since July 4, while its bistro, specializing in breakfast and lunch, debuted last month.

It offers dinners between $12 and $22 and features live music on weekends. Its signature dishes include three-cheese tortellini, chicken Parmesan and beef bolognese. 

Owners Tony Bennett, of Silverton, and Tony Santos, of Salem, both have experience in the food industry. Santos, in particular, spent three years “cooking under an Italian for three years at the Oregon Garden Resort,” Bennett said.

“This is a family run business that we hope will become a household staple,” he added. "Mt. Angel needed something other than German food.”

Tony’s Place will offer expanded hours during Oktoberfest – 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Breakfast and Burgers

Around the corner, at 225 Main Street, Breakfast and Burgers has been selling meals along Mt. Angel’s main drag for six months, the last three of which with baker Becky Peterson adding her homemade cakes and desserts to the menu. The eatery is one of three similar establishments; the other two are in Independence and Salem. Meals are $7 to $12.

Hattie’s Sweet Shop

After a decade-and-a-half of operating her own candy company in Portland, Mt. Angel native Tricia Kloft-Leahy is bringing her family and her business, Hattie’s Sweet Shop, home to the old Traeger building at 350 E. Church Street.

Primarily a fudge maker, she’ll return to making truffles and other chocolate treats in her new large 4,500-square-foot manufacturing and store space. She has 40 wholesale customers, including the Oregon and Seattle zoos. That’ll keep her busy, but she plans to feature a full-fledged old-fashioned candy store in the building’s front retail space too.

“During Oktoberfest, we’ll have fudge and licorice and a small assortment of gummy candy, all prepackaged,” she said. “Then, in mid-October, we’ll bring the chocolate case back out and have all the old-fashioned candy we typically offer.”

The business is named after Kloft-Leahy’s grandmother, Hattie Kloft, who lived just three blocks away.

More:Things to do and eat at Mt. Angel's Oktoberfest Sept. 13-16

Mt. Angel Wein Werks

 Another homegrown business is Mt. Angel Wein Werks, a tasting room at 230 E. Charles Street in the building most recently occupied by the salon Plush Brush. It will feature wines made by Abiqua Wind Vineyard and Paradis Vineyard, both in the Abiqua area.

After watching their parents grow grapes and try winemaking, Tim and Pierre Paradis recently launched their own winery and will offer its first fruits in the tasting room – four varieties – starting Sept. 13.

Their neighbors and friends, Pete and Marcia Buffington, have been making and selling wine commercially since 2003 and currently advertise 10 varieties on their website, www.abiquawind.com.

For Oktoberfest, the tasting room’s renovations were limited to cleaning, painting and adding tables and a casual wine-cask bar. Planned improvements include a building overhaul and outdoor patio.

“We expect to do our major renovations starting in January,” Tim Paradis said.

The White Corner

Up the road at 490 E. Church Street the rejuvenation of a historic old mercantile known as The White Corner is ongoing. 

Mt. Angel City Council President Kelly Grassman and her husband purchased the building as a showroom for her furniture refinishing business, Vintage Ladder. It’s grown to become more than that: Mt. Angel Mercantile, a whimsical shop featuring handmade gifts by women, antiques, and home décor.

The rustic wooden shelves that once held groceries now display cans of chalk paint by Annie Sloan, signs by Averie Lane Boutique, beautiful dried flower arrangements from Hammelman Farms, and, of course, Grassman’s repurposed furniture.

After opening Aug. 18, the shop has continued to undergo renovations, as it required a new roof, and electrical and plumbing repairs, among other things, Grassman said. 

“Still, the first time I got to look around this building (before buying it), I couldn’t stop smiling,” she said.

The shop’s regular hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.