CINCINNATI — Blending Jose Salazar’s knack for food and Deeper Roots expertise on coffee, Daylily is bringing something new to the Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood.
Pairing a coffee shop and cafe menu with the grocery aspects of a New York-inspired bodega and deli, Daylily is offering customers almost everything you can imagine.
The shop had a sneak peak weekend from Aug. 19 to Aug. 21 and its soft opening on Aug. 23, but is slated to hold its grand opening on Sept. 3.
The concept is rooted in chef Jose Salazar’s — owner of Over-the-Rhine’s Mita’s, Goose & Elder as well as his eponymous Salazar Restaurant & Bar — upbringing in New York City. He and his wife grew up with neighborhood bodegas on practically every corner.
“[Bodegas] were a pretty stable piece of community in their lives that they were not feeling they could get in Cincinnati,” said Sami Stewart, general manager of Daylily.
The shop is nestled on Eastern Avenue south of the colorful houses that line Tusculum Avenue. It’s also about a 10 minute walk or so from the spots closer to Columbia Parkway like Taglio, Stanley’s Pub, Jeffy Ruby’s Precinct and Streetside Brewery.
The name behind the store comes from two places — a play on the world “daily” and daylily also means “beautiful day.”
Located in a historic building, the shop itself is casual but classic with its checkered floors, exposed brick and butcher-block countertops. Customers have a slew of seating opportunities, including a window bar, booths as well as a three-seasoned porch and patio.
Daylily is a hybrid of many things, but to put it simply, Stewart said there’s three components to it: coffee, deli and grocery.
With Deeper Roots on board with the business, there’s a full-service coffee menu with loads of options for any coffee connoisseur, whether that be espresso, iced coffee, nitro, specialty drinks or just a nice cup of hot, black drip coffee.
In terms of its deli component, customers can stop in for a full menu, including chopped cheeses, breakfast items, salads, wraps and more, but they can also buy various meats and salads by the pound. There’s also pre-made dinners, like take-and-bake lasagnas available to purchase.
Lastly with its grocery element, Stewart said “elevated everyday essentials” are available at the shop, including essentials like milk, eggs and bread, but also fancier items like nice charcuterie board options.
“If you run out of something while you’re making dinner, chances are you can come to Daylily and grab what you need without it being a ridiculously marked up price,” Stewart said. “It’s at a price that makes sense for everybody in the community.”
Now residing in Columbia-Tusculum with his own family, other than calling back to his upbringing, Salazar also saw a chance to fill a greater need in the neighborhood because there aren't readily corner stores and even major grocery stores within walking proximity.
“Columbia-Tusculum doesn’t have a good food store,” Stewart said.
Stewart said living in the neighborhood, the Salazars noted the lack of a quick, easy-to-get-to store where you can grab those essentials.
“It makes a lot of sense to open a grocery store in Columbia-Tusculum,” Stewart said. “Because the community legitimately needs that.”
Stewart also noted there’s also not a local, specialty coffee shop in the area.
Ultimately, Stewart hopes people in the neighborhood, as well as commuters traveling through the area, see the benefit in supporting the local businesses Columbia-Tusculum.
“It’s a good neighborly thing to do from a very basic standpoint,” Stewart said.
Stewart also talked about the economic impact of supporting local.
“It recirculates dollars into our local economy,” Stewart said. “It’s healthy for our communities and there’s people out here doing cool stuff in Cincinnati that we want to support.”
She touched on the local farms that are growing produce, providing eggs, responsibly grown meat and more, and how it’s important that Daylily support these businesses and source locally.
“Those sorts of ethos are things we also want to uphold, and Jose has those same ethos for his restaurants … and Deeper Roots has a similar ethos for sourcing coffee,” Stewart said. “So those values are really near and dear to our hearts. Making it local is a big deal for us.”
Daylily is currently open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. everyday.
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