Get to know the couple whose cafe provides perfect blend of food, love
Over 9 years ago, Kathy Living of Naperville was selling custom homes and her husband, Danny, was an IT professional.
Then they both lost their jobs.
At a time when some couples might have been torn apart by the stress, the Livings instead grew even closer, creating not only a new business but a new lifestyle working side-by-side as owners of the Borrowed Earth Cafe at 970 Warren Ave. in Downers Grove.
The restaurant focuses on raw, gluten-free and organic foods made largely from nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables. Diners can feast on cheese pirogies, lasagna and earth burgers, to name a few menu choices.
Equally as important for the couple, though, is the business gives them the opportunity to share time together.
“We can give each other a hug to cheer each other up when we're having a bad day,” Kathy said.
Not all their customers realize Kathy and Danny are husband and wife. And those who do are sometimes surprised by how well they work together.
“(People say) I could never work with my husband or I could never work with my wife,” Danny says. “(They say) we would end up killing each other.”
For Danny, though, such stereotypes were never an issue.
“When I was a little kid, I thought the person I married was going to be my best friend and we would be together all the time,” he says.
Working together at Borrowed Earth Cafe made that dream a reality.
Not that there aren't challenges. When the couple has a disagreement, the restaurant's open design gives them few places to hide and no way to get away from each other. But rather than causing problems, they say, it actually has brought them closer together.
They say those bonds have helped them develop a more successful business.
They also know working together isn't for everyone, and neither is the type of food they serve. But, for them, the combination of healthier eating and spending time together is a perfect combination.
“It comes back to what we set out to do,” Danny says, “to find something that we love to do and that we could be together doing.”
The Borrowed Earth Cafe is open from 10:57 a.m. to 9:03 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and is closed Sundays and Mondays. For details, call (630) 795-1729.
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