This week the Crier sat down with the new owners of Café Aroma, Eric and Adrienne Edmunds. The couple take over the storied “Café, Bistro and Social Club” from Erica and Stewart Klair, who made a lot of friends in their brief tour of duty here, and, like Aroma’s many guests, the Edmunds have only good things to say about their predecessors.

Adrienne is originally from New York but grew up in Southern California. Eric was born in Moline, Illinois, home to John Deere. They have been married for 24 years, with three children, ages 16, 18 and 21. They met in New Orleans, working at Brennan’s in the French Quarter. For Eric, a post college vagabond year with a few friends led to a 10-year job, and a life-long partnership.

Brennan’s has been a New Orleans destination since 1946. Think Turtle Soup, Eggs Hussar (Eggs Benedict with wine reduction sauce), Bananas Foster and day drinking, all at breakfast. Eric and Adrienne were married in the restaurant’s courtyard. New Orleans became home, and the Edmunds had two children there. “We still go back there just to eat. The trip is all about our reservations.” Although they do not intend to go full blown Cajun, guests may see a few touches, like escargot, on weekends at Aroma. They might still be living there if it hadn’t been for the 2005 hurricane season.

EE: Then, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit. We were actually on a cruise ship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. We couldn’t even go back home afterwards. We went to Galveston, Texas, then Houston. The house wasn’t livable, our jobs weren’t there anymore. The restaurant was closed for a year. I went back to the house and salvaged what I could and came back out to the desert.

Eric joined Adrienne in Rancho Mirage, where her father had retired. Adrienne suggested he look into the country clubs in the desert. He did and spent the next phase of his career at places like Desert Horizons, the Rancho LaQuinta Country Club and Andalusia Country Club, ending up at the historic Morgan’s in the Desert, where he spent a year as general manager.

AE: It would have been longer, but we heard Café Aroma was for sale and that ended that.

EE: We’ve been coming up here for 14 or 15 years. The very first time we came up to Idyllwild we camped over at San Jacinto State Park. We had our kids with us, they were little at the time. We walked up here and stopped at this place and had dinner. We sat at the “Casey Abrams booth” (the couch in the alcove where the Uptown Bar is now) for very first meal we had here. Every time since then that we’ve come up, we’ve always eaten here.

TC: It becomes a home away from home, doesn’t it?

AE: Especially when the desert is 100 degrees. When you have little kids, they want to play outside.

EE: Then in late January, early February (this year), we were up here, we sat and had dinner in the little private room.

AE: We had Edgar as our server.

EE: Erica was there. We were lamenting the fact, after we left, that we should have our own restaurant. We didn’t want to work for other people anymore.

AE: I said, “It has to be in Idyllwild.”

EE: Let’s find a space up here and open a restaurant.

AE: Let’s start looking.

EE: Like a week later, I got an email from Erica saying Café Aroma is for sale.

AE: I’ve never seen you move so fast!

EE: It was serendipity.

TC: It’s nice to put “self-employed” at the top of the resume.

EE: Exactly. It’s a dream come true for us.

AE: We pinch ourselves; I do …

Locals have noted the smooth transition. Eric shadowed the Klairs for a while and is quick to credit them: “They set the table for us.” And, as Adrienne adds, they “got the right staff. That’s key; we love our staff.” Aroma has always attracted the kind of people that want to be part of something special. Stewart and Erica were dedicated and down-to-earth, and like attracts like.

EE: To get the staff that they got; we will be forever grateful for that.

AE: It was beloved before; we want to bring it back to the top.

TC: You have a background in spirits?

EE: I am a sommelier and wine is my passion. We’ve got a great bartender, Daniel. With his spirits knowledge, he’s great at creating cocktails. We’ve already expanded the wine list. We have about 80 bottles and hope to get over a hundred in the next couple months.

TC: Any other changes your guests may see?

EE: The menu is well received. We’re going to tweak it here and there, seasonal changes. We’ve introduced made-to-order Bananas Foster and Cherries Jubilee. We’re talking about Saturday and Sunday brunches. When that will start, we don’t know yet.

Bananas Foster is a trademark creation of Brennan’s, and Eric prepares it table-side, using the original recipe for the flaming desert, with their blessing.

Eric praises the kitchen staff, who do wonders in a famously small kitchen. “Tiny isn’t a small enough word for it. But what we’re able to get out of there in quality and consistency is amazing, and that has a lot to do with our kitchen staff. Felipe is the chef. He is amazing. They all are. I trust my staff already, I could see right away, I have full confidence in them.”

Adrienne is currently general manager at JOY, the Asian fusion restaurant at Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino, but will join Eric full-time in September. In addition to her restaurant experience, she has an interior design background, and has an interesting canvas to work with in Aroma.

The Edmunds have a son who has just finished college and two daughters, one finishing high school in the desert, so for now they have “feet” in both places. But we get the impression that Idyllwild is working it magic on Eric, who marvels at things like walking to the bank, and the post office, and the store. And seeing familiar faces along the way.

For Adrienne, the role of host comes naturally. She enjoys being the face of the operation.

AE: The community has been so welcoming.

EE: The support has been amazing.

As I left, Adrienne shared that Erica and Stewart received several offers for Aroma. One prospective buyer wanted to tear it down and start from a blank slate … but the Klairs felt comfortable that Eric and Adrienne understood the place, the tradition and the town.

EE: I am a full believer that the more “good” restaurants there up here, the better for all of us. That attracts people.