Amy Matzke-Fawcett | The Roanoke Times

The Claret Cafe opened last week in downtown Radford and offers Southern favorites and international cuisine.

The Claret Cafe occupies the space that formerly was Pascal's Kitchen. The walls have been painted a buttery yellow, and local art now adorns them.

Business name: Claret Cafe

Owners' names: Chuck and Stephanie Hussey

Address: 1150 E. Main St., Radford

Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday; and10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday

Contact information: 639-2153 or claretcafe.com

What is it? The menu, which changes weekly, includes both Southern favorites and international cuisine.

"It's old Southern diner meets European bistro," Chuck Hussey said.

"If you went into someone's home, this is the kind of food you'd find, with an American twist," Stephanie Hussey added.

The restaurant offers brunch on the weekends, with a rotating menu of items such as Cap'n Crunch French Toast and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and lemon cream.

Vegetarian and vegan food are also staples of the menu with items such as The Provencal sandwich and Moroccan chickpea soup.

Dishes are made with local, organic and in-season ingredients as much as possible, Chuck Hussey said.

"That's the way we like to eat, so that's what we're offering," he said.

The Husseys said they plan to incorporate wine and beer into the menu once the restaurant is licensed to do so. Each entree will have a wine, beer and tea suggestion with it. The cafe will offer wine tasting, and the couple would like to bring in a wine importer for a special class.

The Husseys formerly managed the Vintage Cellar, a wine and beer specialty store, which was closed and consolidated in September with the Blacksburg store by the same name.

The Claret Cafe Web site is updated with the current menu.

Why it opened: Owning a restaurant has been a dream for the couple, who often spend time in the kitchen trying new recipes together.

"We always said we're going to open a restaurant one day, and people always said we should open a restaurant," Chuck Hussey said. "This came out of all the talking about it, and everything has worked out so well."

Some of the recipes on the menu -- such as the Awesome Pork Sandwich -- are results of the Husseys' kitchen experiments.

One day, the Husseys found a sign reading "All because two people fell in love." That sign now hangs above the door of the cafe.

"All this is really because of love," Stephanie Hussey said.

The restaurant opened Feb. 14 -- Valentine's Day.

History: The space was formerly occupied by Pascal's Kitchen, which closed Dec. 16. The walls have been painted a buttery yellow, and local art now adorns them, but much of the behind-the-scenes equipment is the same. The Husseys bought the space and kitchen equipment from former Pascal's owner Jeana Moreno.

Open for business is a feature written by Roanoke Times writer Amy Matzke-Fawcett that spotlights new businesses in the New River Valley. To have your business considered for the series, call 381-1674 or e-mail amy.matzke-fawcett@roanoke.com.