August 2009

To Our Sweet Life Café Customers & Friends,

It’s hard to believe that it has been over three years since the Lederer Family opened The Sweet Life Café. This venture was truly a labor of love, both for the ice cream business and the historic downtown area of the City of Fairfax. When an opportunity came to us to invest in the in the struggling historic downtown area, we jumped in head first, adding a quaint ice cream parlor and restaurant, and remodeling one of the truly historic treasures of our community – The Moore House.

This summer, while looking for a fulltime manager to entrust the restaurant to, we were introduced to a chef/baker who was looking to open her own restaurant in the heart of Fairfax City. A Sweet Life customer herself, she shared our passion for the community and for the restaurant, and made an offer to take over the restaurant. After many conversations, we decided to take the opportunity and sell the restaurant.

Effective August 1st, Shawn Warner has taken over the reins and will be introducing her vision for the restaurant at the end of the month. Happily, her restaurant Choices by Shawn will be featuring the Sweet Life ice cream everyone has come to know and love.

As we reflect on the last three years, we want to sincerely thank you for your support and patronage. As novices to the ice cream shop and the restaurant business, this experience was a true adventure each day we opened the doors. What kept us going was the friendship, understanding and huge support from our wonderful customers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

While we will miss the business, and seeing our customers every day, we are looking forward to resuming our previous lives -- refocusing on our family.

We leave behind a revitalized historic property, a setting with charm and ambience, and a new owner who we know is dedicated to excellent food and providing the community with a warm and hospitable environment to enjoy.

Rob & Maureen Lederer