Woodstock's Ethereal Confections plans for August opening at new location

Woodstock residents should be able to soon enjoy expanded offerings by Ethereal Confections.

The owners of the downtown "bean to bar" chocolate shop, café and bar have been in the process of remodeling the former Elks Lodge building, 140 Cass St., to suit the business' new plans and are looking at an opening date in August.

Ethereal’s owners plan to open a speakeasy-style basement bar and expand their chocolate, breakfast and lunch offerings. The 10,000-square-foot building also will have room for an event space.

The owners originally had hoped to open in the spring, but construction problems delayed progress, co-owner Sara Miller said.

“We took a 100-year-old building and gutted it,” she said. “There were some issues we didn’t know about.”

Chef Tyler Smith has 20 years of experience and is developing recipes for the new menu, she said.

Some new lunch and breakfast options include a breakfast burrito with a roasted tomato salsa and a fried chicken sandwich with a spicy coleslaw, Miller said.

In the new space, the basement will hold the bar, the first floor will be home to the café and chocolate kitchen, and the second floor will be for the café kitchen and event space, Miller said.

She said it was exciting to see construction progress.

“Every time we go in and there is something new done, we get a rush of excitement,” she said. “It’s frustrating to wait this long, but we are looking forward to moving into the new space, settling in and creating new routines.”

The original plan for an incubator kitchen in the new building has been nixed for now, she said.

“Now we will have a larger event space,” she said. “There will be room for 100 people instead of 50.”

The owners hope not to be closed to the public for more than a day or two once moving day officially arrives, she said.

Ethereal Confections currently is located at 113 S. Benton St.