Former chef betting on new business

FORT SHAWNEE - At a time when few business owners are willing to bet on new investments, Donna Newscomb is going all in.

Newcomb and her daughter, Dawn Hade, have opened the Dixie Breese, a combination bakery, deli and carryout located, as the name implies, at the corner of Breese Road and South Dixie Highway. A former executive chef for Holiday Inn, Newcomb said she hopes to draw in customers with, as the store's motto reads, good food by good people.

"I've been watching the property for three years and there's nothing out here that does what we do for three miles in any direction. I just saw it as an opportunity and saw it as a very viable location," Newcomb said.

The location, near Interstate 75 and just down the road from the Lima Refinery, Joint Systems Manufacturing Center and a slew of other plants and businesses, gives the business a built-in market for lunches. It will deliver within a five-mile radius between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to take advantage of that market. It's a plan that, less than a week after opening, is already paying off.

"We have a lot of orders from local factories and companies, health-care facilities and other business. They're looking for something different and something good," Newcomb said.

The shop houses a bakery counter featuring an array of pastries and muffins Newcomb makes each morning. In the back, a kitchen where she prepares a variety of foods, from soups and salads to pizza, sandwiches and full dinners, including ribs, chicken, lasagna and baked fish.

Back out front, there's a quick-grab grocery with convenience items ranging from milk and cereal to beer, wine, even kerosene and road salt. There are even tables set up so customers can eat in. Newcomb said she is also working on a catering menu she hopes to have out in time for the holidays.

So far, the staff includes Newcomb, Hade and three employees. Mother and daughter are working 12- to 14-hour days, hoping their hard work and good food will pay off in the end.

"We put everything we have into it, everything. We really believe in it," Hade said.

"You know, with the economy like it is, offering a quality meal at a fair price, it's something people are looking for," Newcomb added. "We plan to give them what they want."