We recently connected with Laurie Orfanidis and have shared our conversation below.
Laurie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
I have been been in the restaurant business for 45 years. The first 5 restaurants were our families restaurants and all had the same name. When I ventured out on my own, I decided I wanted something fun and light. My best friend and I were sitting around and throwing names around and the one that stuck was Sunny Day Cafe. It was perfect. I ran that restaurant for nearly 7 years. I sold that location and moved to Selbyville DE to take care of my Aunt who had stage 4 lung cancer and wanted to remain in her home until her passing. I stayed with her for 7 months until she passed. My manager from Sunny Day Cafe had continued on working with the new ownership of Sunny Day and was not happy with the way they ran the cafe. He met with me one day and told me that he felt he was ready to open his own place but he didn’t think that he could do it without my help. I thought about it for just a bit and decided to dive right back in. I researched the area a bit and decided that Rehoboth Beach is going to be the spot for us. After I sold Sunny Day Cafe, I told my BFF that if I ever owned another restaurant I was going to name it Sunny Bay Cafe…..so that is what I did. My business partner said he wouldn’t want it named anything else.
Laurie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I began working in the restaurant industry when I was 14 years old. The place I worked at was located right across the street from where I grew up. I worked from the time I got out of school until most days at least midnight. That is where I really realized how much I loved this industry. I ended up marrying the owner of the that restaurant and have been working with him every day since that point. The restaurant business is tough on the best of days and to work with your significant other on a daily basis makes it that much harder but we made it work. We have 2 boys that were very active in different organizations growing up and I didn’t want them to have to miss out on the things that they wanted to be involved in so it was quite the balancing act to keep our work life balance under control. I am a self taught chef and that is what I am super proud of. At Sunny Day Cafe I did a lot of catering. I worked hard and learned how to run an extremely successful restaurant and catering business. I catered weddings, christenings, birthday parties, corporate events, lots of government meetings and many more events. Giving back to the community is something else that I am very proud of. The community you live in is the one that supports you so why would you not support them when they need help? Another thing that I am extremely proud of is at Sunny Day Cafe I won many awards and received many accolades from Business of the Year in Harford County, Hospitality award, Best Caterer, Best Breakfast and Brunch Harford County and Best Breakfast and Brunch in MD.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I try and keep up with the materials that I receive from my food reps. They are quite full of current information and what is going on currently withing the industry. One of my favorite things to do is to attend food shows, that is where I get my new ideas and learn about what is up and coming.
Any advice for managing a team?
I love to take my team out for happy hour when they least expect it. Being around the people that you work with in a different setting brings you closer to each other and you learn so much more about each other that way. I also have a summer party and a holiday party every year. It takes me a very long time to come up with fun games and food that everyone enjoys and they really appreciate and look forward to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: Sunny Bay Cafe RB
- Facebook: Sunny Bay Cafe
