After sitting empty for several years, Three Oak’s popular breakfast and lunch spot Viola has reopened under new owners and with a noted chef in the kitchen. The first day of official business is Monday, June 7.

Shelley Young, who owned The Chopping Block cooking schools in Chicago for many years before moving to Sawyer, Mich., is adding a Southern/Creole touch to diner standards. (Menus posted below.)

That’s at the request of owners Scott King and Anthony Bellon, both of who have Lowcountry Southern or Cajun roots. King and Bellon have owned a small farm in nearby Galien for 10 years and live there mostly full time since the pandemic.

All the food is made from scratch, from the beignets to the biscuits. “While we are Southern and there’s a bit of Southern flair to the menu, it’s still got everything that a regular diner would have—pancakes, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy, eggs,” Bellon says. But there’s also a southern country Cobb salad, fried green tomatoes, gumbo and crawfish etouffee with poached eggs.

Rotating specials will include shrimp po’ boy, desserts like banana pudding and sides such as collard greens, buttered corn and red beans and rice. The sides are part of the restaurant’s cafeteria classic “Meat + Three,” a protein and three side dishes. The food we sampled at a trial run this week was terrific—nice spice and flavor without too much heat.

The interior got a complete facelift and new furniture and now sports some lovely botanical wallpaper.

Bellon hopes the cafe will be a local gathering place. “This is my way of going to a bar and seeing all my friends without going to a bar,” he said.

Viola will be open for breakfast and lunch from 8am-3-pm ET Thursdays through Mondays.

Bellon said he plans to get a to-go operation going soon, including frozen items such as chicken and dumplings and gumbo for those wanting to feed a crowd at home.

Viola Cafe, 102 N. Elm St., Three Oaks