BY ABIGAIL GILMORE

Imagine a coffee shop, beer and wine bar and a performance venue with a sustainable focus all rolled into one.  Welcome to the Raven Café in Prescott.

Ty Fitzmorris and Newt Lynn conceptualized the Raven Café, a green café that appeals to both people who are and aren’t highly eco-literate, and Prescott was the perfect place to start, Fitzmorris said.

With a mixed demographic like many cities around the country, Fitzmorris figured, “If we could make it work there, we could make it work elsewhere.”  The Raven offers more than 500 selections of beer and 300 choices of wine, including local, organic and gluten-free options.  The coffee is locally roasted and the food is purchased locally whenever possible.

“Dean Brenna, the kitchen manager, came onto the team in the last year and has dramatically increased our local and organic food options, and has been incorporating it into a menu where the prices aren’t substantially higher,” Fitzmorris said.  Additionally, the Raven Café has implemented a recycling program and uses eco-friendly cleaners and eco-friendly to-go packaging.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, the café offers live music, and every Monday night they feature an indie movie.  The Raven also displays art that rotates throughout the year, as well as hosting non-profit projects.

“Seeing what it has done for the community is the most enjoyable thing for me,” Fitzmorris said.  And the customer loyalty makes him feel great, too.

“We’re in a small town with a high degree of community cohesion,” he said.  “And partly because of what the Raven offers.  People will routinely come in for coffee and then stay for lunch.  Some people come in to eat four times a week.  It’s a degree of customer loyalty that doesn’t happen nowadays, and it’s great.”