There’s something new cooking in Cambridge. Lynn Willis has added her restaurant, The Kitchen, to one of the downtown village storefronts.

Willis, who is a Galva resident, decided to open a restaurant after closing down her women’s clothing, Fira du Boutique, that was located on Prospect Street in Cambridge.

“I opened (the boutique) during Covid,” she said. “I was originally looking for a place in Galva, but Cambridge is the county seat and location of the county fair,” she said. “I was trying to boost tourism and business.”

She had purchased the Old Chronicle newspaper building at 119 W. Exchange St. with the intention of flipping it, and put in the work to restore it.

“It was in pretty bad shape, but I got a lot of help. The Village of Cambridge has been really supportive. Everything just kind of fell into place.”

Willis has spent years in retail business, and opening a restaurant had never crossed her mind, she said, but while running her boutique, she would hear from her customers a common refrain.

“People would come in and say, ‘Man, we need a restaurant.’”

Willis took their calls for a restaurant to heart and instead of flipping her building, she decided to put a restaurant there, and “jumped in with both feet.”

When determining what kind of restaurant she wanted to open, Willis finally settled on offering a breakfast buffet.

“I was always thinking when I started to make it as easy as possible using the fewest employees,” she said.

But Willis realized that everyone has different appetites and not everyone eats the same amount. That’s how she came up with offering plate sizes for different prices.

Seniors and kids, who might not eat as much, have the option to choose the small plate for $5.50, while customers with heartier appetites can choose one plate at $9.50, two plates at $13.50, or the basic all-you-can-eat option with three plates for $16.50. The plates include a small pastry plate and a bowl.

Willis said she has never seen the concept done before, but it’s working.

“For the most part, people are honest,” she said.

The restaurant allows for seating, but Willis also offers grab and go containers for her customers that are in a hurry. All of her items are homemade and the buffet serves up eggs, meats, a waffle bar, sausage gravy with her grandma’s baking powder biscuits, as well as pastries, cinnamon rolls and whatever else she wants to bake up that day. Breakfast burritos are offered as part of the grab and go menu.

“I want consistency so people can come in and know what they are getting,” she said.

On Sunday, Oct. 1, Willis changed the menu and hours to include brunch. The breakfast buffet is served from 7 to 11 am from Wednesday to Saturday, and brunch from 11 to 1 pm. Sunday hours are 7:30 am- 1pm. The Kitchen is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

The brunch menu will include items from the breakfast buffet but the addition of ham, casseroles and two different soups.

The restaurant opened on Aug. 5 of this year, and Willis said she’s happy with the reception her new concept dining has received from the community.

“It’s been very good. Obviously that was a concern because I think people thought it was going to be a menu, sitdown restaurant,” she said. “But it’s awesome for people on the go and busy. They can load up their to-go containers and take it with them.”

Willis calls her dining style “fast food with a twist,” but said keeping the buffet full came with a learning curve. She does have help. Lavonne Nimrick prepares the buffet, while she acts as baker and “sous chef.”

“It works out pretty good,” she said.

This is Willis’ first experience at owning a restaurant, and introducing a twist to the buffet style was a gamble that has paid off.

“I just thought the concept would be good to get in and out. Covid changed everything,” she said. And her new restaurant is allowing people to dine without the wait.

For more information about her restaurant, visit the website at www.thekitchenincambridge.com or find them on Facebook.