She started a food blog. Now she’s bringing her home-cooked, comfort food to metro-east town
Alton’s RiverBend area is about to welcome a new eatery that specializes in takeaway home-cooked meals.
Comfort Cuisine by Lolly is expected to open soon, said owner Lori Bregenzer.
Bregenzer, aka Lolly, said she’s been a cook all of her life.
When she was young she learned from her mom, aunt and grandma, who were all wonderful cooks. The women in her family encouraged the kids to spend time in the kitchen, cook and enjoy good food.
Bregenzer wants to spread that enjoyment of food.
“I believe that Comfort Cuisine can fill a niche by offering an alternative to fast food, which allows people to sit down to a home-cooked dinner without the shopping, cooking and clean-up,” Bregenzer stated in a release from the RiverBend Growth Association.
She will offer Heat & Eat Meals with a different menu each week. Fully-cooked comfort foods will be available in single- or family-sized servings.
There will be three entrées a week that will include beef, chicken or pork items. There will also be a vegetarian option.
Comfort Cuisine’s lunches, known as Lolly’s Lunchbox, will have weekly soup, salad and sandwich takeaway specials. Soups will be available by the bowl or by the quart. There will be a salad and sandwich (hot or cold) of the week.
No specific dishes have been announced just yet, but if the recipes in her blog and photos on the website are any indication, people will be in for a real treat. Some examples include a roasted poblano corn bisque, chiringuito chicken and potatoes and feta cheeseburgers.
And speaking of treats, Comfort Cuisine will also offer dessert items, special menu items for the kiddos and homemade treats for the pups.
Bregenzer likened the kids’ offerings to those that A&W offered back in the day, with mini versions of everything. Folks can also sign up for the mailing list to get menu updates.
The menu will be posted to the Comfort Cuisine website several days in advance, and meals can be pre-ordered online.
“Folks are also encouraged to drop in and pick up dinner on their way home after a hectic day,” Bregenzer stated in the release.
According to the website, she is also open to custom cooking requests and is happy to speak with customers about their culinary needs.
Folks are welcome to stop by to order, and orders can be made online (the website is still a work in progress).
She plans to handle everything on her own and will sell meals until everything’s sold out each day.
Coming full circle
Bregenzer’s first job in high school was at a restaurant called Zantigo, where she later learned about restaurant management.
From there, she moved into administrative roles and eventually moved away from restaurants, landing in a law firm in St. Louis.
She spent a few years working in the field of litigation technology, supporting lawyers, paralegals and others in the field.
Later, she became an independent consultant, working with law firms, government agencies and corporate legal departments. For the last five years, she worked in software development and consulted with companies to incorporate the use of legal tech software.
She said after nearly 30 years in legal technology, she decided to make a change and “follow her bliss.”
Bregenzer left the corporate world in January with a desire to do something with food.
The delicious next chapter
In April, Bregenzer started a food blog.
In her first post on Lolly Cooks, Bregenzer starts by relaying her move from legal tech to food blogger.
The April 7 post refers to what she called “The Recipe Project,” in which she decided to “gather and scan treasured family recipes.”
The blog entry includes some background of Bregenzer’s childhood when she cooked with her family and learned to appreciate food. She relays her memories around the family recipes and even includes links to several: Mom’s meatloaf, hot German potato salad, peach cobbler and homemade ice cream.
In addition to writing her blog, Bregenzer started working as a personal chef for those who wanted it, performing in-home meal prep and creating meal packages.
Eventually she decided to expand on that and become sort of a personal chef to the community by opening Comfort Cuisine by Lolly.
“It just happened out of the blue,” said Bregenzer.
She happened to step in at 4 E. Broadway when Epicurean Fare was located in the 700-square-foot building.
The business was moving to a new location, and Bregenzer was given the name of the landlord.
In August, Bregenzer became the newest tenant in the little white building with the blue awning.
While Bregenzer didn’t expect this development, she said the new endeavor was obvious to friends and family.
Bregenzer and her partner of nearly 30 years, Todd Ryder, often held dinner parties at their home.
After spending so many years cooking together in their tiny kitchen, the couple built a screened-in deck addition on their home that houses a larger outdoor kitchen.
The project took eight years, according to Bregenzer.
She said that Ryder, a retired toolmaker, made a scale model of the deck-kitchen they designed. Then they built the full-sized version together.
At the new restaurant, Ryder built the counters.
“He’s one of the most creative persons I’ve ever known,” she said of Ryder.
Bregenzer likes being creative herself, especially when she can combine creativity and technology.
Since she started her blog, she’s discovered that she really enjoys writing. She also designed the logo and signage for Comfort Cuisine.
Keeping in mind it’s a risky business, Bregenzer said she’s very excited to open her restaurant and doing it on her own terms.
About Comfort Cuisine by Lolly
Comfort Cuisine is located at 4 E. Broadway in Alton and is slated for an October opening.
The takeaway eatery will be open Wednesday-Saturday, hours to be determined.
For more information, call 618-353-0200, check out comfortcuisine.biz or follow the Facebook page.
