Walking in to Yvette Marie’s Café, customers are immersed in a space full of rustic, eclectic artwork. The tables are covered in drawings and pictures, the chairs are mismatched and the food is created to cater to all tastes. 
The café, nestled inside of the Circa 1857 Art and Architecture complex, has proven to be a hidden gem.
Yvette Marie’s has been in operation for years but came under new management when brothers Jay and David Bruno bought the café and its sister company, Bonanno’s Fine Catering.
The two company names come from the name of the original owner, Yvette Marie Bonanno.
The brothers started their local restaurant involvement by purchasing Mellow Mushroom in 2001, and then moved into the café and catering business in 2008 as a way to branch out.
The duo also owns the LA House Dining Hall, a restaurant and catering business located on the ground floor of the Louisiana State Capitol that’s open for breakfast and lunch.
Despite sitting at different locations off Government Street, Yvette Marie’s and Bonanno’s function as one entity.
“We want to have a New Orleans-type of feel and look,” Jay said. “Something different from what you’d get at a typical place in Baton Rouge.”
The catering business acts as the commissary, home of the restaurant’s weekly menu ideas. Bonanno’s chef Taralyn Stephens works with Yvette Marie’s manager Brett Sollberger to create a menu the week before it runs.
The menu includes sandwiches, muffalettas, soups, salads, desserts and specialty beverages. Although the meals are simple, the ingredients are
high quality.
The café tries to cater to all dietary needs, including vegetarians and vegans, by offering veggie melts, muffalettas and salads without meat.
Each day there is a hot special offered, which could include offerings such as lasagna, Southern-style chicken and dumplings, hamburger steak and fish tacos.
“Everything is made to order, and it’s definitely healthy food,” Jay said.
In addition to its exclusive menu items, Yvette Marie’s also showcases items from other local vendors.
One of their partners is Swamp Pop, a sugarcane soda company based out of Lafayette. The company manufactures six different flavors of soda, which can be found in throughout Louisiana and much of the U.S.
Swamp Pop’s Filé Root Beer and Praline Cream Soda can be found at Yvette Marie’s.
The café’s coffee comes from a closer company, River Road Coffees in Baton Rouge.
A portion of the dessert offerings also comes from local vendor, Nannette Mayhall, who has been a baker in Baton Rouge for more than 30 years. She makes specialty cakes for a handful of restaurants in the city, including Yvette Marie’s.
Mayhall delivers two cakes a week to the café, one on Monday and one on Thursday.
Bruno says being located inside of Circa 1857 helps the café’s business immensely.
“We really work collectively as a partnership here,” Jay said. “We get to do more food and beverage after hours, and they get to open their stores as well, so it’s a win-win.”
The complex participates in collaborative events such as hosting “Hot Art, Cool Nights” in conjunction with Mid City Merchants, wine tastings and various other functions such as wedding receptions and private parties.
During the events, the paved parking lot and courtyard are completely tented, with the venue capable of holding up to 10,000 people. Extra amenities can also be brought in as needed.
“The courtyard is beautiful at night,” Sollberger said. “It’s lit up and breezy.”
Throughout the years, the café has expanded on three separate occasions, each time adding a new room for more space.
The café indulges in its appreciation for art and eclecticism by featuring local artwork in the added rooms branching off of the main room. Each room is home to alternating artists the restaurant partners with.
“We sometimes partner with LSU as well as other artists around town,” Jay said. “There’s artists in this complex too that we work with, but it’s all about helping people show their art and sell it.”
The café and Circa 1857 open up to each other, allowing people from either side to visit the other.
“We’ve got a lot of different customer segments that come here,” Jay said. “It’s an eclectic group, [and] probably one of the biggest growing segments we have is LSU students.”
As an effort to reach out to LSU students who are becoming frequent customers, Yvette Marie’s will give 10 percent off purchases with a student ID.
You can reach Ashlyn Rollins on Twitter @ash_r96.

Gallery • 13 Photos

Emily Brauner

Yvette Marie's Cafe, nestled in the same building as Circa 1857 Antique and Art Market, offers a 10% discount to LSU students on Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 1857 Government Street.