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The Lemon Door opens Fennimore
Coffee shop and pop-up venue opens
The Lemon Door
The Lemon Door opens in Fennimore - photo by Emily Schendel
It started out as a buzz, a rumor. And then the bright yellow doors, and then the bright yellow signs and finally, the time has come. The Lemon Door will be opening next week, Thursday, June 20 at 7 a.m.
Owner, Melodie Betts has been working tirelessly to bring The Lemon Door to life in Fennimore. A coffee shop, cafe and pop up venue, the new shop with the bright yellow doors is seeking to bring a unique flair to the City on the Move.
“I looked at buildings all over Wisconsin, knowing I’d be selling my home in Montana and would be needing to find my forever job,” Betts said. “This building came up and I asked some friends about it, and it all just unraveled itself to me.”
The Lemon Door’s space is small but set up thoughtfully. A large vintage enamel cook stove holds its place at the head of the kitchen. The walls are flanked by old doors, artfully decorated by the local high school art students and the long wall holds vintage advertisements thoughtfully framed. This wall will also play host to  a future rotation of area artists.
“The windows will be goofy,” Betts said with a laugh. “I wanted to be different, I didn’t want to compete with what was already here. I wanted people to get excited for something new. We want to have fun.”
In addition to fun windows and in house artists, Betts and the staff at The Lemon Door are  also serious about what they’re serving.
“We work toward sourcing local, organic and fresh items for our ever changing special items,” Betts explained. “We’ll be pickling our own veggies to cut down on new glassware. Our granola, different mayos, and salad dressings are made fresh. Homemade lemonade, organic tea, our coffee was rated one of the top 10 by Forbes Magazine and is roasted in Madison.”
For eats, there will be big sandwiches, salad, cold soups, and beer cheese soup in the winter time. Betts was kind enough to share a sample of her  gazpacho with me and it was full of flavor, freshness and tasted exactly like summertime. It most certainly promises to be a hit.
There is also a strong movement toward sustainability and the reduce, reuse, recycle life style.
“I could get recycled bamboo flatware, but that isn’t what I want,” Betts explained. “I want people to stop throwing stuff away. We want to change how we provide our customers quality, without unneeded waste.”
For carry outs, there will be no single use plastic bags. Customers are encouraged to bring their own bags, or bright, beautiful The Lemon Door bags will be available for purchase for $3.  There will be no plastic flatware. Betts and her staff will provide clean flatware for carry out customer to take, with a donation jar for replacing the pieces that don’t come back, but customers are welcomed to bring it back and The Lemon Door will wash it in their dishwasher for use again.
“We are taking donations of  flatware to use for our carry outs if anyone has any hanging around they’re not using,” Betts added.
Also, there will be no plastic straws, again, people are welcomed and encouraged to bring their own reusable straws from home, however, there will be paper straws available for 10 cents.
“There will be other steps that we take to continue our mindful views for our planet in the future,” Betts added.
For now, The Lemon Door will be open every day, except Wednesdays 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. but as things get rolling along, Betts hopes to be open in the evenings on Thursdays as well.
The space will also host different pop-up events.
“Pop-up events can be anything from art shows, guest speakers, traveling trunk shows and whatever else ‘pops-up!’” Betts noted.

We hope all will come down and make the newest business in the community welcomed and enjoy the fun, food, and drinks at The Lemon Door.