Written by Haley Parnell, LINK nky reporter
Becoming mayor was never part of the plan for Jessica Fette.
Her ultimate goal was always to open a restaurant. Fette said she loves being Erlanger’s mayor, and it has been the best job she’s ever had. While she will continue that role, she looks forward to her childhood dream of opening her east coast kitchen and coffee bar, The Hive.
Fette’s family moved from New Jersey to Northern Kentucky in 1989 to open Vianna Pizza. Everyone in her family worked at the restaurant. The pizzeria was open for seven years, and from ages 4 to 11, Fette was engrossed in the restaurant lifestyle.
“I was that 7 or 8-year-old kid taking orders on the phone,” Fette said.
She jokes that she was breaking child labor laws helping with deliveries.
“It was always my life goal to have that again,” Fette said. “To have that with my dad, learn from him and get his recipes.”
Fette said she talked about finally opening a restaurant with her husband on their anniversary last year. Something she had been talking to him about since they were 12 and 13, growing up together in the same subdivision in Erlanger. He convinced her to make a few phone calls and get the ball rolling.
Fette found her dream building at 480 Erlanger Road.
“It’s always been Erlanger for me,” Fette said. “This is one of the oldest houses in Erlanger; it was built in 1876. The house was here before the city was here. Bringing this building back to life has been awesome.”
The building had been vacant for eight years before Fette invested in it, and the process to get it transformed into her dream space has taken a lot of work. She replaced the roof, bought new equipment for the commercial kitchen, bought new tables and chairs and started working on partnerships that would bring the spirit of The Hive together.
Sarah B’s Sweets, owned by Sarah Meyer, was the first partnership Fette signed. Meyer has worked out of her home kitchen for the past two years to produce everything from cheesecakes to pumpkin rolls and cookies, cupcakes, bourbon balls and more. There are keto and gluten-free options as well. Fette is building Meyer a commercial bakery in the basement, so all treats sold at The Hive will be made in-house.
Another partnership Fette made was with Carabello Coffee.
“The owner is from Philadelphia, so he was very excited about the idea of mixing East Coast,” Fette said. “Caraballo is local, and we wanted to keep it local. That’s what I do as mayor, and that’s what I want to do at The Hive.
“We have partnered with artists. We will have art for sale. Everything on the walls will be for sale. We partnered with Emily Howard, who owns The Diggingest Girl gallery. All her art will be on the walls. Kara Crowe Harper did all the murals on the walls. She’s from this area and went to St. Henry. Emily went to Dixie with me.”
The Hive will feature East Coast-style Italian cuisine on the first floor of the building, and upstairs will be a coffee bar. Fette will be using all family recipes for her restaurant. She describes them as her grandma’s recipes that her dad made unique to be his own.
“Dad can take something completely mediocre and normal, but it’s his love and absolute passion, and it makes it beyond something extraordinary,” Fette said.
Fette is gluten free, so she said she really cares about dietary restrictions.
“We will be as careful as absolutely possible,” she said. “Everything on the menu will be clearly indicated what is and what’s not gluten free and vegetarian. We will never make someone feel bad about a dietary restriction. It happens to me almost once a week. We’re going to try our damndest to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The Hive will operate from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and have breakfast, brunch and lunch. In the evenings, the restaurant will be available to rent for events. There is also a conference room on the second floor that people can rent.
Fette describes the space as four different environments: the lounge area, the coffee bar with café seating, the dining room and The Hive conference space.
When can you start enjoying the East Coast Kitchen and coffee bar? Fette says she is shooting for mid-March, but she hopes to be up and running some time this spring.
“This is my fourth year being mayor,” Fette said. “Building relationships and friendships are what helps inspire me. It makes me want to strive for more. If we can provide a location where that happens, we can help be facilitators for that. I want it to be a community space, not just a restaurant.”
