Owners Greg Innocent, Chris Cheng and Taylor Moberly want to not only offer great coffee, but a great hospitality experience.
“It’s coffee reimagined,” Innocent said. “We really want people to experience coffee in a way that it’s connected to the people that they encounter when they are here.”
Moberly, a Piqua native with about 10 years of experience in the coffee industry, will head the cafe’s coffee program. She said customers can expect a core menu of drinks that are typically found in every coffee shop, in addition to seasonal beverages and a trendy menu highlighting popular drinks on TikTok.
Sourcing coffee ethically is a priority for miDDay. In the future, they hope to roast their own beans.
In addition to coffee, customers can expect elevated American cuisine with an egg sandwich expected to be the star of the show during breakfast. miDDay will also have waygu burgers, salads, wings and more.
“We view this place as if it was a gastro cafe experience where the food is going to be a little more elevated than your typical coffee shop,” Innocent said.
He added that all items will be flavorful, visually appealing and very thought out.
Innocent, who is originally from Florida, and Cheng, who is originally from Michigan, have spent years in the restaurant industry. The longtime friends met in Chicago where Innocent was a beverage director and Cheng was selling liquor.
“Him and I have always had a really high expectation for hospitality — what that means to people,” Cheng said.
Another thing they have in common is their wives happen to both be from the Dayton area. Innocent recently moved to Dayton to be close to his wife’s family. Last year, Innocent and Cheng offered a Christmas pop-up featuring cocktails and cookies at Gather by Ghostlight at the Dayton Arcade. That was the catalyst to creating miDDay.
Innocent said when he met with industry experts in the Dayton area they kept telling him he needed to meet Moberly. Once they met, the rest was history.
miDDay is expected to not only have breakfast and lunchtime vibes, but be a place for a “pick me up.” The cafe will also be open for early dinner.
“We want to be that space for people to meet up, create connections here and create connections with us,” Moberly said.
The owners hope to open the cafe the first week of October. They also plan to open a speakeasy in the back of the building featuring a “very much evolved cocktail experience that will really challenge peoples’ different sense of smell and taste to really take them on a journey.”
Good Impressions, expected to open early next year, will be a very intimate space with about 35 to 40 seats. The owners plan to push the envelope in terms of the experience.
“I want the people of Dayton to feel like they have something for them that came from Dayton,” Innocent said. “I want them to remember how they felt when they came in here.”
For more information and updates, visit middaydayton.com or the cafe’s Instagram page (@midday_dayton).
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