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Date: 11/9/2022
SPRINGFIELD – 413 Café, a woman-owned business located on 1383 Main St. rear, recently celebrated their third-year anniversary.
Owner and founder Christina Raschi said, “It’s so incredible. It feels like it was yesterday when we opened, but at the same time we’ve really come this far.”
She continued, “As a business owner, I appreciate everyone that’s walked through this door and my model is enter a friend leave as family.”
Raschi describes the cafe as a rustic, tranquil, home environment that represents the rich history of Springfield. The menu is a tribute to Raschi’s journey and life – serving Cape Cod coffee, where her parents met – and selling bags of their ground coffee where customers can take it home and brew. They also serve Tandem bagels, breakfast sandwiches made to order, homemade egg bites, cream cheeses, hot chocolate, teas and pastries The top customer favorite is the 413 coffee which Raschi mixed and blended. She calls it home with a taste of her Italian roots because it taste like a biscotti cookie. In addition, the cafe does seasonal flavors. This fall Raschi’s mother will be making her cranberry orange bread.
Raschi has always wanted to bake since she was a child. There’s even a picture on the wall of Raschi as a toddler holding a hand mixer. In high school, she went to a culinary arts vocational program and went to Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, CT, and earned a degree in business administration. Her last previous job was an Alzheimer’s Hospice caregiver. After her longtime client passed away, Raschi felt it was the time to start her own bakery. She was ready to open in March of 2020. Then COVID-19 hit and everything was closed down, so Raschi had to wait until indoor dining came back on June 16, 2020.
“When you come into the cafe, you get that good home feeling atmosphere; a breath of fresh air,” she said. “Everything in here has a true story behind it.”
Raschi continued, “People come on their break and they enjoy our food and hospitality. We have regulars that come in on the daily like clockwork to have their breakfast sandwich with double meat, cheese, and bacon with a light and sweet coffee. We’ve built relationships with our customers along the way.”
Currently, Raschi expanded the cafe’s hours which is her main focus for the moment, but down the road her dream is to open a second location. She’s in the works of doing pop-up events once a month on a Saturday. She’s also teaming up with a longtime customer who does arts and crafts and will post the dates for that after Thanksgiving.
“It’s truly something new every day and I’m always learning something new every day,” Raschi responded. “It’s amazing to see and expand the knowledge I’ve learned and having it all come under this one big blue umbrella of 413 Cafe.”
413 Café is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit their page on Facebook and Instagram @413.cafe.