Philip H. DeVoe/Collegian
Derek Spiteri, son of Checker Records owner John Spiteri, opened the sandwich shop Handmade in the old Oakley building on Hillsdale Street last week, after a year of renovations. The old Oakley-style bread is back, with all sorts of new additions: the sandwich shop also features specialty coffee drinks, ice cream, and a cool atmosphere for studying, snacking, and socializing.
For Spiteri, opening the new shop has been a community effort.
“From the beginning, this just took me on an adventure,” Spiteri said. “I met so many people in the process. It was just me sourcing ideas from all these people I’ve met in the community.”
The restaurant’s tables were handcrafted by Spiteri and a local woodworker built the bar-length counter in the center of the restaurant. The old-fashioned cash register belongs to Spiteri’s father, John Spiteri, who inherited it from his father and used it in the opening of his first Checker Records location in the 1970s.
Spiteri and his family bought the old Oakley building in 2015. After a year of extensive renovations, Derek Spiteri sold his first dozen sandwiches Friday, Oct. 21, as part of Handmade’s “soft opening,” intended to be a slow start to give himself and his employees firsthand experience before the official opening.
“Social media spoiled the notions of the soft opening, because a lot of people started coming in around noon, and we were pretty steady that day,” Derek Spiteri said. “It was kind of a baptism by fire. We just dove in headfirst and that day was very critical in the learning experience of how it was going to fall into place.”
Business was much busier than expected Saturday, and Spiteri called in extra help to serve new customers.
“We were both just flying back and forth, cutting things on the slicer that we were both using for the first time, so we weren’t prepared to do those numbers that very first day,” Derek Spiteri said. “It was all hands on deck with my family and friends.”
Due to the rush of customers and the steep learning curve in opening a new business, Spiteri said service was slow in the first week.
“When you buy a franchise, it’s already all laid out for you,” John Spiteri said. “But this is really starting from the ground up, so there’s a learning curve. [Derek] is still learning what to order, what to carry, and how the business works.”
When Hillsdale College senior Will Perssons visited last Thursday, his focus was on the quality of the food and the friendly atmosphere.
“It’s really nice on the inside. It’s more clean and modern looking, but it’s unique,” Perssons said. “It has a small town feel, which is what people liked about Oakley.”
Perssons said his roast beef sub with horseradish cheese provided variety and quality. He also said the famed Oakley bread was fresh, but the new shop provided new options, including regular sandwich bread.
“That was the one thing I was sure of,” Derek Spiteri said. “I knew I was going after a great product line and that people were excited about the Oakley’s bread coming back.”
Derek Spiteri said he chose the items on his menu for both their quality and novelty – the meat is hand-sliced, the soup is always fresh, and the ice cream is from a family-owned company in Madison, Wisc., that makes six types of vanilla ice cream alone.
The coffee looks like beer. Derek Spiteri said he began exploring specialty coffees like his special on-tap cold brew last winter while working at Checker Records.
“Last year, Derek started experimenting with cold brew coffee,” John Spiteri said. “He worked all winter long until he perfected the recipe. He would try different brews and processes and ask people what they thought.”
Handmade’s “nitro cold brew coffee” uses cold water to keep acids and oils that give coffee its rich flavor.
“But I take it a step further,” Derek Spiteri said.
He brews the coffee in kegs for 10 to 18 hours and adds nitrogen, which gives the coffee a thick, draft-style texture.
“[The cold brew] is super interesting because it has the frothiness of a beer, but it tastes like coffee,” Perssons said. “It’s also cool to have in small town middle America, because it’s just starting to become popular.”
In the future, Derek Spiteri said he wants to expand his selection of specialty coffee drinks, including cold brew coffee flavors and teas. He said his cold brew dirty chai latte has been a favorite in the past, and he makes pour-over hot coffee in “the dragon,” a device that makes coffee look like a science experiment.
“This is just a platform, and I’m hoping to build upon it,” Derek Spiteri said.
Spiteri said he originally planned to serve a home-brewed coffee-flavored beer along with the draft-style cold brew coffee. After applying for liquor licenses with the state of Michigan and the Hillsdale City Council, however, he discovered that, legally, he can’t hold licenses for both his to-go beer and wine section and a “wholesale manufacture” beer.
“We can possibly make it happen in the future,” Derek Spiteri said. “I’m not sure if that will be here or at some other location, but that will come later.”
Derek Spiteri said Handmade is currently serving about 80 to 85 percent of his planned menu as they plan for a grand opening planned for next week. He said he plans to develop weekly sandwich specials, such as a fall sandwich with maple-glazed honey and roasted onions. He is also currently hiring and training employees.
John Spiteri said members of the community have welcomed Handmade into Hillsdale.
“We appreciate the support from the college and town,” John Spiteri said. “We want to carry on the same philosophy that we always have. We want to accommodate everyone and give them a good experience.”