Today we’d like to introduce you to Nelson Fernandes.
Nelson, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After dropping out of art school I started working at the front desk of the Boston Park Plaza Hotel where my father was the Chef at the time. I quickly fell in love with the hospitality business and decided to make a career out of it, learning as much as I could over the next twelve years working in various hotels and departments. In 2013, my father and I decided to leave our hotel careers behind and opened JJ’s Caffe in our hometown of Brockton, MA. JJ’s Caffe was our vision of the neighborhood diner, bringing that quality of service we had honed in the Boston hotel scene. I took a lot of what I had learned opening the W Boston Hotel and applied that to our small eatery, especially when it came to brand building and WOWing guests. Since then we’ve been featured on Phantom Gourmet, The Boston Globe, Yankee Magazine and have been recognized as one of the Top 100 places to eat by Yelp. For us, the concept was simple: do everything we could to make our guests leave with a big smile. If we did that, we could count on our guests to spread the word and they would build a loyal following for us, as long as we consistently delighted them.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our biggest challenge over the years has been staffing. As with most restaurants, keeping a full staff can be difficult. It became a bit harder for us since my father and I were bringing the ideas and standards we’d learned in Boston to a city that wasn’t accustomed to that same level of service. I remember when the episode of Phantom Gourmet came out and our business almost doubled overnight, we couldn’t hire fast enough. Every person on the team was pitching in to get the job done and we always figured it out. Now, I believe we’re in a good place with a committed team looking to grow with the restaurant.
Please tell us about JJ’s Caffe.
JJ’s Caffe is a casual gourmet breakfast and lunch eatery in Brockton, MA. We’re known more for our breakfast since we include many dishes not seen in most restaurants. We love to have fun with our menu, with items like Creme Brulee French Toast, Hash Bombs (deep-fried balls of corned beef hash), and The Hangover Benedict (sirloin steak eggs benedict).
About a year after we opened one of our regulars came by with a sign he saw at a yard sale and bought it for us. The sign read “Enter as strangers, leave as friends,” and has been hanging up on our wall ever since. That quote has really become our mission and that’s what we’re most proud of. There’s something about complete strangers having a conversation together, leaving all of their worries and struggles outside, and bonding over our food, even if only for their short time together.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite memories growing up was going to work with my Dad. When I was younger, I didn’t see my father a lot because he was always working, picking up extra shifts as a cook whenever he could. Sometimes, he’d bring me to work and I’d run around this massive hotel, playing in the Chef’s office or help the prep cooks. Funny, many of my father’s coworkers I met as a kid, I would end up working with some twenty years later.
Contact Info:
- Address: 610 N Main St.
- Website: www.jjscaffe.com
- Phone: 508-510-4227
- Email: info@jjscaffe.com
- Instagram: @jjscaffe
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jjscaffe
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jjs-caffe-brockton-2
Image Credit:
The Champ Burger – Lori Pedrick
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