Alpine Grind: not your daily grind

John Snelgrove didn’t plan to own a coffee shop, but he’s found a job and a business that fits with his life in Rossland, B.C.

For John Snelgrove, always enjoying good coffee is just one of the perks of owning Alpine Grind. — Ida Koric photo

When the Alpine Grind, a coffee shop in Rossland, B.C., originally opened its doors, John Snelgrove was living in Whistler, B.C. As a newspaper publisher, he knew a thing or two about coffee but owning a shop wasn’t anywhere on the radar. However, by early 2010, Snelgrove had left his long-time career and moved to Rossland with his family. The owners of Alpine Grind at the time were thinking of closing the business, and Snelgrove joked to some friends that he should buy it to save the favourite local gathering place. It’s a joke that became reality, and Snelgrove found himself the inexperienced owner of a coffee shop.

Since that time, the Alpine Grind Coffee House and Eatery (or just “The Grind,” for those who want to sound in the know) has excelled. The business recently relocated to what Snelgrove describes as one of the best corners in town. The larger space allows for more seating and an improved commercial kitchen, opening opportunities for the café to expand its baked goods and meals. Plans are underway to obtain a liquor license and open later for dinner service by time the next ski season gets started.

Keeping it fresh

Despite the differences between newspapers and restaurants, Snelgrove has found that attention to customer service is essential, regardless of the industry. He feels that the success of an award-winning newspaper that he worked at was largely helped by listening to readers and finding out what they were looking for. At the Alpine Grind, he strives to create a comfortable space where customers can approach staff to offer compliments, criticisms or ideas.

An Alpine Grind cappuccino. — John Snelgrove photo

“There’s nothing wrong with trying an idea,” said Snelgrove. “We might try making a different kind of pastry or baked good or sandwich or whatever and if it doesn’t work at the end of the day it might have taken an hour or two and $25 worth of ingredients. It’s not a disaster; it’s not the end of the world. So whenever we come up with different ideas to add to the menu, we think about it, we think it’s going to be good, then we try it and see if customers like it.”

A good place to go

The Alpine Grind has a pizza lunch special every Friday, and bread is made on-site. The café also uses fresh local ingredients when they’re in season. The baking selection changes frequently and has begun to consistently offer gluten-free options. By making Alpine Grind baked goods available at the local farmers market, Snelgrove has found that more people are exposed to some of their other offerings beyond the coffee that is roasted by Oso Negro in Nelson, B.C. He has learned that coffee drinkers tend to be particularly loyal to their favourite shops, and although Alpine Grind has well-appreciated regulars, new faces are always welcome. After all, alongside never having to drink bad coffee (a flashback to his days as a publisher?), Snelgrove’s favourite thing about owning and running a coffee shop comes from the happy people that enter Alpine Grind.

“I have friends and I know people who wake up in the morning and try to motivate themselves to go to work. I can honestly say in the entire time that I’ve owned the Alpine Grind, it’s never been a grind to come into work,” said Snelgrove. “I still have a piece of me that loves the newspaper business . . . but I love seeing happy customers walk in the door and walk out the door . . . if you look around and see 40 people and they’re sitting there smiling and they’re enjoying everything that you’ve either prepared for them or the environment that you’ve prepared for them, that’s hard to beat.”