Published: June 22, 2009 11:21 am      

Down-home cookin' as a way of life

Two sisters started a now-thriving business as single moms

Bobbi Dunn and Pat Samperio are bringing a renewed sense of family to Branford with their family-run business, Sister's Café.

The sisters, long time residents of Branford, say they decided to open Sister's Cafe as a way to keep their family close and to help each other raise their daughters. Both Bobbi and Patti were single mothers when they first started Sister's.

Running a business was not entirely foreign to the sisters. Samperio had 14 years' experience in the restaurant business, and Dunn had worked for Home of Merit. According to Dunn, the sister's decided to go into the restaurant business as a way to bring their family closer together. "We were both in a period where we were bored with our current jobs," said Dunn. " And Pat's job had taken her several hours away to south Florida."

While the sisters had some experience coming into the venture of opening a new restaurant, they were weary of opening a business in such a small town.

"We lived here most of our childhood and had seen several restaurants come and go," said Dunn.

They first looked in Live Oak and Lake City for a building, but didn't find anything suitable. They finally drove through Branford one day after building searching and noticed a new place up for rent in downtown Branford.

"It was exactly what we'd been looking for," said Samperio.

According to Samperio, it took some time, but eventually news of the new restaurant spread all over town.

Later, both Samperio and Dunn met their future husbands while serving at Sisters. Their husbands, Julio Samperio and Mason Dunn, help out by doing electrical work and fixing anything that needs to be fixed around Sister's. "We say we made them fill out an application," Samperio said laughing. "Sister's is a tremendous family thing, 90% of our employee's are family and those who aren't might as well be. This is significant in a time when family closeness seems to be slipping." According to Dunn, their main goal was to create a place where everyone could feel at home. "We have an open door policy. Everyone is welcome and we treat everyone like family," said Dunn. "That's why we've done so well."

Now, their restaurant is thriving with one of the largest and freshest buffets in town. "All of our meat and sides are cooked to serve, nothing is ever cold or old," said Samperio. Dunn says that she and Samperio are the only cooks because it's their name on the restaurant. Dunn explained that the only way to know everything is cooked correctly, is to do it yourself. "There's never a time when one of us are not here," said Samperio. "We always have our hands in the food," Dunn went on to say.

Samperio said one of the keys to their success is their diligence and hard work, and the unique atmosphere they've created.

"It's a true down-home atmosphere," said Dunn. "When you're here, you hear nothing but laughter."

Samperio went on to tell of how often the sister's disturb guest with bouts of laughter radiating from the kitchen.

Dunn says that in a time when many small restaurants are going out of business, theirs is going strong.

"This little town has a lot of loyal people," said Samperio. "They've remained loyal through these hard times."

Dunn and Samperio even have plans to expand the buffet and make it more efficient. According to Samperio, the people of Branford have done a lot for Sister's Cafe and they want to continue to improve the restaurant for them.

"We joke a lot about how we're going to be in the old folk home, still laughing and telling old stories," Dunn fondly said of she and Samperio.