About us
We happily serve a full coffee and espresso menu with our own line of homemade natural syrups. We brew Brazillian beans that are roasted in Brooklyn by Kitten Coffee, we also offer organic soy milk, almond milk and use Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy.
We're especially passionate about our rotating menu of personal sized seasonal baked goods made from scratch on premise. The familiar smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies or the enticing aroma of spicy bacon fill our shop throughout the day.
We have small but comfortable indoor and outdoor seating areas and free wifi.
Local matters to us, natural matters to us, our staff matters to us and of course our customers matter to us. We understand that getting a smile with your coffee in the morning makes your day suck a whole lot less.
Our history
This shop was no accident. Owners, Denise Plowman and Crystal River Williams had been dreaming of this for many, many years. Long before they'd even met eachother. However, it wasn't until they joined forces that their separate dreams became one beautiful reality. The California natives both have pastry arts degrees and a passion for local and natural food.
Denise, a former Marine, has many years of coffee and baking experience; from small mom and pop shops to baking on the Google campus in California. Several of Norma's signature desserts and savory items have a kick of heat as a nod to her Mexican heritage.
Crystal, a mother of two, has over 20 years of food service and sales experience. A former "Hippie Kid", her passion for wholesome home cooking runs deep and as a Ridgewood parent her love of the neighborhood is genuine.
Who is norma?
One of the most common question I am asked is, "who is Norma?". To which I reply, my grandmother. This answer tells you very little about the wonderful woman who inspired the love of food and community behind our shop.
She was the quintesential home-maker; full of joy, warmth and family values. Her smile was contagious and so was her passion for cooking.
I want to take a minute to share a tiny glimpse into her life. Norma fell madly in love with her High School sweetheart, Gilbert Williams. They married at the age of eighteen and had three wonderful children together.
I will never forget my visit with them in 1993, just months before my grandfather passed away. I was snuggled up with a blanket by the fireplace my grandfather had built for my grandmother as she read to me from her journal. You would have thought she was reading to me from her newly wed days by the way she gushed, but it was a recent journal entry. Her eyes lit up as she described what a handsome and caring man my grandfather was and how much she still loved him.
In October of 2011 my grandmother, Norma, passed away. We opened our shop just 8 months later. Though she didn't drink coffee for religious reasons, I believe that she would be proud of her name sake and the joy it brings me to remember her on a daily basis.