Press Release:
DARIEN CENTER -- Dave Riker is coming home to the Darien area and opening a
new business, Darien Cafe and Ice Cream Shop.
Riker, formerly known as Zymowski, and his wife, Tammy, have purchased the
former Beachy's Restaurant at 1415 Broadway (on Rte 20 just east of Rte 77).
They closed on the property March 13, with plans to reopen the restaurant
under its new name in May.
"It's a business opportunity that allows us to be closer to family and old
friends in the Darien, Alden, Batavia and Attica areas," Riker noted.
The couple has operated Betty's Diner near Utica for the past four years.
With Betty's being an old 1950s-style diner with limited space, he said they
often dreamed of having a larger eating establishment. When visiting family
in the area this past winter, they saw the "For Sale" sign at Beachy's, and
decided to jump at the opportunity to both grow in the restaurant business
and be closer to "home."
Riker got his first taste of the restaurant business as a teenager washing
dishes at an Old Forge eatery in the Adirondacks. He dreamed of being a
restaurateur -- but ended up working as a dealer and pit boss in Las Vegas,
and then running his own printing business there. Tammy, in the meantime,
worked in administrative positions in a number of industries before becoming
a typesetter and layout artist for their print shop. Then, finally returning
to that dream, the Rikers came back to New York and threw themselves into
running the little restaurant in the Utica suburb of Marcy, he said.
Darien Cafe will be open seven days a week, Riker said, employing up to 16
people, and offering a full restaurant menu in addition to the ice cream
shop's frozen delights and fast foods like hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza.
During the summer season the restaurant hours will be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.,
and on concert nights, until 1 a.m. A full menu will be available, including
breakfast from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., he said, and the main dining room will be
open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, and up to 8 p.m. on Fridays.
