The Bell Brothers and the Bird Dog Cafe

Connor and Elliot Bell, with their talent and experience, could have chosen anywhere in the world to build their dream, but they decided to return to Laurel and make that dream come true in their hometown. With the help of Ben and Erin Napier with HGTV’s Home Town, the brothers found an older home, the Stassi House, on Short 7th Avenue that the Napiers transformed into a place where people can grab a quick lunch and enjoy quality food at an affordable price.

  
Next door to the Sassi House was another old house, the Boteler House, the brothers considered. They loved the location and ended up purchasing both homes but worked with HGTV to renovate only one building. The brothers have plans to begin renovations on Boteler House soon.  A few things are still to be done to the Bird Dog Café, and with the COVID-19, the brothers have delayed the opening of the café. They hope to be in the position to open by July.

Monday, June 1, the Bird Dog Café was revealed on Home Town’s Season 4 Episode 15, The Café House. In the episode, Ben and Erin designed and renovated the old home, turning it into a quaint little restaurant with an efficiency apartment for Connor. The old home was a triplex with three separate doors, and it was not in the best condition when Connor and Elliot first saw it.
“There was an old mattress on the back porch and holes in the ceiling,” said Elliot.
“We joked and said there were three natural skylights in the house,” added Connor. “You could stand here and see the sky at any point of the day. Now, it’s kind of hard to believe that it’s the same building.”

The brothers said they told Ben and Erin they would prefer a timeless design for the café so that in ten years they wouldn’t feel like they needed to renovate it again to keep up with the times. Connor said they wanted “a classic wood study” style throughout the café.
“Hemmingway, Tennessee Williams, that old Southern gentleman sort of thing,” added Elliot.
“They got exactly what we wanted,” exclaimed Connor.
Ben and Erin kept the original pine walls. They redid the rotten flooring with honey color beechwood, except in the kitchen area where sheetrock and luxury vinyl tile had to be used to satisfy restaurant building codes.
“It’s like honey and chocolate,” said Elliot, describing the walls and floors.
The seating consists of a church pew, wood chairs, a wood community table, and several uniquely crafted tables made with Singer sewing machine frames.
“My dad (Chuck Bell) got the idea to use these sewing machine tables that were first made by my grandfather years ago,” said Elliot.
He said local entrepreneur Jacqueline Parker at JParkers in downtown Laurel made several of the wooden tables and remade the tops for the sewing machine tables for them.

To give the large dining room “cozier spaces,” as Erin described it during the episode, she used different size wood pane windows as a separation wall. The outside is painted a rich brown with rust colored trim keeping with the masculine style décor.  As you walk into the café, you get a warm cozy, home-away-from-home feeling. The dining area is on the left, and a sitting room, book room, and the Bird Dog Café souvenir room is located to the right. The kitchen area is located in the center of the building, surrounded by a counter on the left and a beautiful uneven wood point-of-sale counter, made by Ben, and a dessert case in the front. As you look through the dining area, your eyes can’t help but gravitate to the back wall to a beautiful painting of the brother’s mix-breed bird dog, Emmy Lou, which was painted by world-renowned local artist Mark Landis as a gift to the brothers. Emmy Lou was the inspiration for the café’s name. 

In the next week or two, a new 18x50-foot deck will be built on the back of the café, which will provide more space and seating and will better comply with the COVID-19 guidelines. Between the two properties, there are plenty of places for people to grab their lunch and sit on the brick wall near the street or find another location on the property to relax and enjoy their food.
At the Boteler House next door, the brothers plan to build an outside kitchen with a fire pit where they can roast whole pigs and chickens and other smoked meats for their menu items. They hope to open up a complimentary business to the café in the Boteler House by the end of the year. Elliot said he had not finalized his menu, but you can expect to see breakfast tacos in the morning for sure. For brunch there will be farm-to-table dishes sourced locally and baked fresh daily. For example, one menu item will be poached salmon or shrimp gribiche with farm greens, heirloom tomato, shaved cucumber, asparagus, and haricot verts tossed in a pesto vinaigrette and topped with gribiche (French tartar sauce) and an egg and served with a side of toast. Another menu item is a grain bowl consisting of mixed grains tossed in a black garlic vinaigrette and topped with pickled onions, avocado, radishes, an egg, and sun-dried tomato-pecan pesto with your choice of whole fire-roasted pork or butter and wine poached salmon.

According to his mom, Nancy Bell, shrimp and grits is Elliot’s specialty, so you can expect to see that on the menu someday.
They will offer only breakfast and brunch at the beginning. Once breakfast and brunch are perfected, and the brothers have a good feel for the demand, they will open up at night, and the Bird Dog Café will become essentially a wine bar. Elliot’s passion for preparing food began in childhood. He started at the age of 14 in Wesson, Miss., at a popular restaurant, “Porches,” which is the inspiration for the Bird Dog Café. There he watched and learned and dreamed of having his own restaurant.  His career includes stints as a baker at Fish Out of Water in Watercolor, FL, cook at Trattoria Borago in Grayton Beach, FL, opened their sister restaurant Abrazo in Florida, the butcher at Wolfgang Steak in Waikiki in Hawaii, and the Sous chef at the Laurel Country Club.

Connor’s talent is in working with people, management and marketing. He has worked at a variety of establishments, including Fish Out of Water in Watercolor, FL, The Pearl in Rosemary, FL, and he was the assistant general manager at The Hub on 30A in Watersound, FL.
With Elliot’s knowledge of food and expertise in cooking and Connor’s management and marketing skills, the brothers hope to make the Bird Dog Café the place to be day or night. Elliot also wants to share his knowledge with anyone wanting to work and learn.
To keep up with the Bird Dog Café, visit their website at Birddogcafe.com or connect with them on Facebook, birddogcafe, Twitter @BirdDogCafe, or Instagram @birddogcafe.