Ours is a story of mid-life changes, the pursuit of our passions and friendship. It begins with Emily Thiroux who left nursing in 1998 to pursue her passion for theatre. With her husband Jacques’s encouragement, Emily founded the Spotlight Theatre and School of Arts to produce quality local theatrical productions, and provide an enriching educational experience for children. She opened an Espresso Bar in 1999 with coffee drinks, desserts, gourmet soups and “actor snacks.” Jan Fulton often dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur, exploring a variety of concepts through the years with food frequently in the center of those ideas, but her career with the City of Bakersfield was challenging and rewarding enough.
Emily and Jan met in 1999 when they teamed up with a small band of intrepid citizens to plan the city’s “Millennium” party, First Night Bakersfield, and a lasting friendship developed. One spring afternoon in 2003, they were discussing how to expand the espresso business. Jan suggested adding salads, something unique and fresh. She offered to come in on the weekends to help get it going. Emily wanted to add ice cream, Jan suggested Lappert’s Hawaiian ice cream – her favorite.
That’s how it all started – in June 2003, with the grand opening of the Spotlight Café and a menu of three salads and a soup. We thought we were going to be an ice cream parlor with food. (We are proud to be the only source of Lappert’s Hawaiian ice cream and coffees in the entire San Joaquin Valley!). But our customers soon told us otherwise and we quickly added sandwiches. Thanks to another suggestion we added free WiFi services to meet the needs of our mobile guests.
From the beginning we agreed that fresh, quality ingredients and made-from-scratch recipes would be the basis of whatever we prepared. We expect each order to look as good as it tastes. This is reflected in all the pictures on our menu, boards, bottle labels, and web page - Spotlight’s food, each prepared, “styled” and shot at the Café.
Passions change and our story is still unfolding. Catering is now a large part of the business, and our signature dressings are available by the bottle. Jan retired from the City in early 2004 and now handles the daily operations with the help of a talented and dedicated staff. After losing Jacques in early 2006, Emily has moved on to pursue an academic career as a lecturer at CSU Bakersfield, but continues to volunteer on the Theatre’s Board of Directors.
We are committed to providing our guests with fresh, delicious, hand-crafted food in a warm and inviting atmosphere. Our staff has become family, our guests, friends. Whether you are visiting us for the first time, or a regular customer, dining in or taking out, we look forward to serving you, today and when you return.