People passing by New Morning Café’s normally vibrant and bustling atmosphere on Sunday, Apr. 12 were instead greeted with a laminated sign taped to the door that displayed a somber statement: “To the valued patrons of New Morning Café, it is with a heavy heart that we must announce we will be closing our doors on May 12, 2019 for new construction of this building … Sincerely, Charleen Jackson and the crew of New Morning Café.”

New Morning Café was located at 1696 Tiburon Blvd in Belvedere, Tiburon, and served a variety of traditional breakfast foods to customers for over 47 years. Now, the Café has closed because of new building developments in its former location, as Tiburon is constructing apartments in the area in order to provide more affordable housing.

Charleen Jackson, owner of the Café, said that she had been expecting the new building developments for quite some time, but only recently felt the impact of them.

“The closure is affecting me a lot; I’ve been here 47 years and I’d like to keep going. Today, I am getting a lot of people coming up to me and saying how much they loved the Café, and how much they loved coming here. I knew the Café meant a lot to a lot of people, but when this closure actually happened, I’m really seeing how much it meant to those people,” Jackson said.

Paulino Monterroso, who joined New Morning’s staff 28 years ago, says that the Café’s closure is a big detriment for the community.

“This is a big loss for the community because we have seen families raised here, little kids used to come to the shop years ago and now they are coming with their own families,” Monterroso said.

One person who has come to the Café with her children is Redwood parent Paula Witte-Coven, who started eating there over 20 years ago with her husband. She ate her last meal there on Sunday, May 12, with her 17-year-old daughter, Ava Coven. Witte-Coven says the Café has been a consistent marker of warmth and togetherness.

“The Café to me is neighborhood, community and comfort. The best thing about it is that it’s exactly the same as its always been. The food has been the same, the decor is the same and the people who work there have been the same all these years. It’s been timeless… I’m very sad to see it go,” Witte-Coven said.

Even with all the reminiscing, Jackson says there is a chance the Café makes a reappearance after all the dust settles.

“After they get everything situated with the new building, they said they will call me and I will then have 7 days to decide if I want to come back. It’s a lot, it would mean a remodel, and a re-this and re-that…we’ll just have to wait and see,” Jackson said.