Good books and good food join hands on Thursday, June 4 when Dispensa, the new Terra Momo run Café, opens in the Princeton Public Library.
The Grand Opening Celebration runs from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The event will feature fresh local produce, baking and dough demonstrations, and a book drive to benefit the library’s used book sale (bring a book to donate and receive a $5 Dispensa coupon good through July 15). There will be samples from Dispensa’s café-style menu, featuring foccia, salads, pizzas, panini, Bristot espresso coffee and cappuccino, and much more.
I love the choice of the name Dispensa, which refers to the Italian word for “pantry.” In addition to freshly baked goods such as pizza, panini, soups and other light fare to eat on site, the kiosk will offer sandwiches and salads in a “grab and go” case. I can see library patrons loving that, and, indeed, coming to use Dispensa as their own pantry. And that’s what the Momo brothers are hoping, as they may someday open additional locations in the area.
To digress, I remember the Momo Market in Princeton Junction, where I could stop by to pick up delicious lasagna for dinner (the chicken with Béchamel sauce was my favorite). That establishment didn’t work out at the time (it was on the wrong side of the road for most homebound traffic, for one thing), but I can’t help but think Dispensa could be the next generation of that idea, further refined and offering fresh, not overly complicated, food to go. And if they are anchored to high traffic locations where the public goes anyway, all the better, as traffic is, in my book, the first and most important driver of sales for this type of business (it’s my retail background!).
Like all Terra Momo restaurants, Dispensa will use natural and local ingredients for their freshly made goods, to be replenished with multiple rounds of baking throughout the day from Terra Momo’s Witherspoon Bread Company. Other ingredients will come from their Teresa Caffe, one of Princeton’s enduringly favorite restuarants (and the source of that great lasagna). Food and beverages will be served using bio-degradable products as much as possible, too.
Dispensa is open the same hours as the library: Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
NJ SPICE 