By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Kristie Leighton took a risk that some people might not consider: giving up a steady paycheck in a busy field to start a new business with family.

Her mom Tammy Sawyer also left the medical field to devote herself full time to being a co-owner of Knight’s Cafe, right off Main Street in Naples.

Leighton, a longtime resident of Naples, worked as a medical assistant clinical leader at a clinic in Lewiston. She gave her notice in January and left March 12.

“For me, it was very exciting to be able to work in my own community after working in another community for so long,” she said. “It was really sad to leave my job. I had a lot of co-workers and patients that grew to be more like family. I am still in contact with them. I was to the point I was getting burnt out. If I had been there through COVID, it would have gotten more challenging.”

“I also reached a point in my life where I am willing to try anything. You only live once. I feel like if I hadn’t done it, I would have driven by this place every single day of my life and regretted it,” Leighton said.

The building that she would have been driving by is The Barn.

Instead of passing by The Barn during her commute to Lewiston, Leighton drives to The Barn to go to work, probably 10 or 15 minutes from her home. 

Knight’s Cafe is the business that she started with her mom.

Already, Knight’s Cafe has found a loyal following in local customers and those seasonal people who stay at campgrounds and camps in the area.

“We’ve heard people say they are extremely happy that there is a nice cafe in town to support the local community,” Sawyer said.

According to Sawyer, the concept of having a cafe started moving toward a reality when the owner of The Barn, Dan Lajoie, mentioned he wanted to have someone in the space to run a sandwich shop.

“I was contacted. I talked to Kristie because we had a small bakery on the side. I asked her: What is your opinion? What do you think? Can we do this? Her response was, ‘When do we open?’” Sawyer said.

The pair started renovating in August 2019 while both of them were working full time jobs. The cleaning and renovations were done in the evenings and on the weekends. 

Sawyer worked at Mercy Primary Care and Express Care in Windham as a patient service representative (PSR). She gave her notice in November and left March 13.

“I felt the same as Kristie did — anxious but very excited because for years something I wanted to do was to have a bake shop or a cafe,” Sawyer said. “I, too, was getting burnt out. I’d been in medical field for 35 years. It was a different kind of stress. But, I also had patients that I really miss. In fact, one of my patients who lives in Limington found out where I was and he comes here every Sunday. He is 80-plus years old. He is widowed. He sits down with us every single Sunday for two or three hours.” 

The benefits of operating the new business have been amazing, Sawyer said. “It’s been fun and it’s been challenging. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You know, I get to work with my daughter. I get to work with my grandchildren. It is everything I wanted,” Sawyer said. “I think being on the small side, we get to know our customers.”

Leighton added, “We get to know our neighbors.”

Sawyer agreed. “Neighbors, yes, we are just having that daily interaction with the local people — basically with anybody who comes in,” she said.

Leighton elaborated. “I’ve lived in Naples for 20 years. (It has been good) being able to interact more with the familiar faces, people I’ve known in town forever,” she said.

Plus, it has been a blast baking for a living.

Those sweet smells tend to draw in customers.

“The two businesses have a connecting door. We feed each other. If customers are waiting we send them over to the antique store,” Leighton said. “When we start baking in the afternoon whether the door is open or not, people start coming out of the woodwork. Customers starting coming in and asking what smells so good.”

Knight’s Cafe offers three pastry desserts: whoopie pies, cinnamon twists and brownies. They bake the whoopie pies three to four times a week.

“We make cinnamon twists every day. We do that in the morning so they’ll be warm when our customers come in,” Sawyer said.

People can pair the pastry with locally roasted coffee from Swift River Roasters out of Raymond. There are multiple flavors and the coffee can be served hot or cold.

Supporting local businesses is important to Leighton and her mother.

“That has been one of our biggest goals: To get as many products from local people as we can,” she said.

The products include: micro-greens from Rock & Fortress Farm in Brownfield; an aged balsamic and also a zucchini relish from Chef Gilleys in Arundel; a balsamic from Tasteful Things in Naples. They order from Native Maine because that company carries local products.

Acquiring and carrying more local products is “a work in progress,” Leighton said.

“In fact, when we close today (Thursday, Sept. 10), I’m heading up to an apple orchard in New Gloucester to get apple cider,” she said.

That can be served hot or cold, she said.