Bert’s Coffee Café offers Scandinavian specialties with every cup

• From left, Gary Arvidson, owner Roberta “Bert” Brill, and Bert Gherty

Along with specialty coffee drinks, Bert’s Coffee Café will offer a full line of Scandinavian bakery items from the last bakery of its kind in the Twin Cities. Pictured, from left, are Gary Arvidson, owner of Scandinavian Specialties, café owner Roberta “Bert” Brill, and Hudson’s own “Bert,” employee Bert Gherty, with just a few of the treats the shop will have on hand daily. Photo by Meg Heaton

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There’s a new owner at the coffee shop at the corner of Second and Walnut streets and she’s brought something special with her.

Roberta “Bert” Brill recently took over the former Daily Grind and renamed it Bert’s Coffee Café. That means there are now two “Berts” in the shop, as longtime downtown personality Bert Gherty has stayed on to work with Brill.

Brill, who grew up in River Falls and later moved to the Twin Cities, has worked in the bakery and coffee shop business for close to 30 years. “When the opportunity to buy this place came up, I grabbed it.”

Along with the specialty coffee the café offers, Brill will offer a full line of Scandinavian bakery items in the last shop of its kind in the Twin Cities, Scandinavian Specialties. She has worked for owner Gary Arvidson, who was in Hudson earlier this week to talk about the kind of things that will be available to hungry Hudsonites.

Among the featured specialties will be Swedish jubilee cake, an almond and buttercream concoction in puff pastry that comes in two sizes — full and mini. There will also be Finnish pulla rolls, in both almond and cinnamon; fyrstekake, a bar with almond paste and apricot filling originally made for the king of Norway; and marzipan tortes. The café will also have rosettes, krumkake and fattigman all year long. Arvidson also makes a chocolate Russian tea cake.

Of special interest is the kransekake, a multi-tiered Scandinavian wedding cake that Arvidson describes as a kind of Nordic biscotti. A specialty of his, they are ordered from all over the country. While his bakery services several coffee shops in the area, this is his first venture into Wisconsin.

Arvidson said any of the items will be available for special order at the café. The café will also carry items from Bakery Creations in Woodville.

Bert’s Coffee Café is located at 431 Second St.

Tags: business, hudson, bert, coffee, cafe