DeMarco’s Caffe opens in Shelburne

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For 14 years Rose De Marco has had the vision of opening her own café, and now after years of planning, her vision has come to fruition. 

DeMarco's Caffe, located at 115 Owen Sound Street in Shelburne, began brewing coffees and serving desserts to customers on July 28 as they officially opened their doors to the community. 

“It's a little bit emotional, but's it's also a sweet feeling,” De Marco told the Free Press. “I was sitting here [in the café] with my sister and she told me I should open and I said I wasn't ready, but I sat there again and decided to take the paper down and turn my light on; I was ready to serve. I can honestly tell you I am so happy that I carried out this vision and I'm so grateful.” 

The establishing of DeMarco's Caffe began in 2009 with the idea of creating a cozy, small space to serve unique blends of coffee and desserts. Over the next decade, De Marco would come up with different ideas of what her café would include, but it wasn't until December of 2018 that she would sit down to begin researching and writing down all her plans. 

“I couldn't help but follow through with it. I tried to run away form it many times through out the years, but in 2018 I had this urge that felt like, this vision I had was going to be taken and it was going to be gone,” said DeMarco. 

De Marco first launched her business online in 2019 and introduced her own specialty blend known as DeMarco's Jamaican/Italian Peppermint Expresso. During that time, she worked on the plans for the brick-and-mortar location in Shelburne, which would open almost three years later. 

Much like their signature expresso blend, DeMarco's Caffe itself is a mix of Rose's Jamaican origins and her husband, Antonio's, Italian roots. 

When talking about the experience she hopes customers get from visiting the café, De Marco speaks largely on the feeling of love. 

“I'm here to serve the people and I want them to feel love from every drink knowing that it was brewed with love. I want them to feel welcome, happy, and to sit down and know that they're in a place of love,” said De Marco. 

DeMarco's Caffe sells a number of drink and dessert items with an ever developing and growing list. The drink menu includes hot drinks such as coffee, tea and hot chocolate as well as cold beverages like smoothies and iced refreshers. 

The selection of desserts ranges from a variety of cheesecakes and cakes, to cannoli and cookies. 

“I believe that this café is going to be a place to bring love into the community and will be instrumental to Shelburne,” said De Marco.