Kathleen Chilcote awoke from a dream with a vision: She and her husband, David, were supposed to make cinnamon rolls for a living.
“He laughed at me, of course, because I was not a baker,” she said from behind the counter at Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and So Much More.
“I said, ‘No, I’m serious. It felt like a vision, that we’re supposed to be doing this.’”
At the time, the couple was living in Naples, Florida. Kathleen was an automotive manufacturing recruiter. David was a children’s counselor and director of a home health company.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The idea sounded a bit crazy at first, but David wanted to support his wife in her dream. “I had lived out my dream. Marrying Kathleen was one of my dreams, so I got that to happen. She had followed my dreams all along the way and I said, ‘Well, I think it’s time to follow hers,’” he said.
Over the next couple of months, Kathleen perfected a cinnamon roll recipe.
“When everybody was going, ‘Oh my goodness,’ then I knew I had it. We sold them on the weekends at the farmers markets there for three years. We sold out every time within three years. We couldn’t make enough,” she said.
The couple decided to quit their jobs, sell their house, put their belongings in storage and go on a journey to find a new town that would support a cinnamon roll business.
They traveled for 60 days throughout the United States, from the Carolinas to Georgia to Kentucky.
Nashville was their last stop a year and a half ago.
“The people are so loving and friendly. They welcomed us so great that it’s just perfect,” she said.
They began selling their cinnamon rolls at local farmers markets, then they’d share their leftovers with the employees at the former Pine Room Tavern. Owner Betsy Oblack allowed them to sell the rolls there, too.
After the Pine Room closed, the couple took the opportunity to start their own shop in the Camelot Building at Van Buren and Washington streets. Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and So Much More opened March 31.
The Chilcotes now sell made-from-scratch lunches and breakfasts, along with other baked goods, like brownies and pies.
The caramelized apple ooey gooey cinnamon roll is the overall bestselling product. But they also offer 19 other different flavors of cinnamon rolls, from cherry chocolate to peach cobbler.
“We wanted to have a comfortable place where everybody felt like they were welcomed and to have great food at really reasonable prices,” Kathleen said.
Almost everything on the Ooey Gooey menu is priced at under $6. They also offer free flavored water with the flavors changing daily, along with specialty coffees.
The cafe doesn’t sell soda or chips with their meals. They want to be different. “We will never serve chips. Everybody in town serves sandwiches with chips,” David said.
Discounts are given to Brown County High School students. The cafe and bakery also has a repeat customer card that gets customers a free cinnamon roll after it’s punched 10 times.
They have plans to do themed dinners, and Ooey Gooey also offers catering services.
Kathleen has a degree in gourmet cooking and had experience with catering, but never had the opportunity to do a lot of baking before now. “For some reason I am blessed with this ability to bake whatever I want to bake and having a good time doing it,” she said.
The couple has five children and 11 grandchildren living in Chicago, Ohio and Indiana. Moving to Nashville allowed them to be closer to them, too.
The Chilcotes said they want Ooey Gooey to be a home away from home for people.
“We hug everybody. That’s just how we are,” Kathleen said.
As the couple is talking, in walks Lorien Konetzka. She is stopping by to pick up an open-faced biscuit with cheesy eggs and sausage gravy before heading to work in Bloomington.
Konetzka met the couple at The Pine Room. She and her 6-year-old son now come into the new shop on Saturdays.
“I really didn’t think he would eat her chicken pot pie because it has veggies in it. He’s like, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my whole life,’” she said.
Konetzka especially loves the family atmosphere at the Ooey Gooey cafe. “I bring my son in here, he gets to have his hugs from David and Kathy. He says he’s going to work here. … The first time he came in here he said, ‘When I get older, I hope they’re ready to retire so I can take over,’” she said with a laugh.
“We will always be here,” Kathleen said. “We will always be part of this restaurant. I’m not going to turn it over to someone else. We just love the people.”
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Address: 211 South Van Buren Street, Nashville (in a Camelot Building shop, the door is located on Washington Street)
Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Facebook: @OoeyGooeyrolls.us
Website: www.ooeygooeyrolls.us for more information on catering, the menu and prices.
