New Clark St. Station Cafe to Open … Next Week?

I’d been wondering what was going on with the new café in the old Chess Café spot, and this afternoon I was lucky enough to meet the owner and find out. Maria Dobrovolskiy may only be 23, but she’s got a head for the biz, having staked her claim to the spot after finding it on Craigslist. Now, several weeks after cleaning and upgrading, Maria hopes to open next week. “But I want to have a grand opening in late August, once the students come back,” she told me. Fresh Cafe Bar is indeed geared more for the Gen Z crowd than the Chess Café was, as Maria will be showing off her French culinary training with a selection of crêpes, as well as a salad bar and frozen yogurt. So stop by and welcome her to the neighborhood, and see how she’ll make all the pieces fit in that spot!