The latest closure of the new coffee bar at the Rye train station over an illegal kitchen appliance stretched into its second week, and is likely to keep the shop shuttered until after Labor Day.
Winfield Street Coffee was shut down on Aug. 18 after the Westchester County Department of Health revoked its food service permit. Inspections by health officials and the MTA, which owns the space, uncovered an unapproved electric range and tabletop fryer.
Winfield owner Breno Donatti did not dispute that the appliances were not specified in the kitchen’s plans, prior to its grand opening in June, and had been used to prepare food since. But he told The Record the infractions were relatively minor and should not have required closing the fledgling location.
“Our goal is always to be compliant and have peace with (the MTA),” said Donatti. “We have a 20-year lease and intend to serve the Rye community for even longer than that.”
He also runs coffee shops in Manhattan, at two subway stops, and at the Croton-on-Hudson train station, where Donatti leases the spaces from the MTA.
As of Tuesday morning, the owner said he believed he was close to receiving approval from the county on plans renovate the Rye kitchen, but was still awaiting the MTA’s guidance on what they would require to lift its ban on Winfield’s operation.
Pressed for a best guess on when Winfield would reopen, Donatti said he hoped they would be back in operation soon after Labor Day.
This is not the first evidence of a challenging landlord-tenant relationship between the MTA and Winfield.
Rye’s Metro-North station stood vacant and neglected for years, while Donatti labored through protracted negotiations to turn it into a lively locale serving coffee, food, and drinks.
And this latest hurdle marks Winfield’s second closure this summer.
Donatti said he believed in late June that the MTA had granted him permission to open for limited operations, but when the MTA learned Winfield was open for business it quickly told the café to close down because it had not given Donatti a final sign off. That interruption in service lasted about a week.
Winfield has recently turned to its 15,000 Instagram followers for help — asking them to complain to the MTA about the closure.
It “hurts our staff, who depend on their shifts, and it jeopardizes the huge investment we made to bring this café to the Rye community,” the business posted on its page.
The message elicited nearly 300 likes and supportive comments such as “Submitted a complaint!! Wishes for a quick reopening!” and “The MTA: where community investment meets bureaucratic shakedown. So sorry friends!”
An MTA spokesperson declined to comment on the situation and referred inquires to the county Department of Health.
A county spokesperson shared documentation of inspections with The Record, describing unpermitted kitchen equipment and operations that led to the food service permit revocation. But the department declined to issue further comment.
Donatti, meanwhile, said he was eager for an end to the conflict.
“Our hope,” he wrote on Instagram, “is that this can be expedited so we can continue serving the commuters and community we love.”
