When your customers consider you tops in coffee and tea four years in a row, there is no use making changes. That’s the philosophy of Home Ground Coffee House’s John Nicastro, who took over as owner in May. “The previous owner did a good job so why fix something that’s not broken,” Nicastro said of Home Ground being awarded gold for best cup of coffee/tea in the Best of the Foothills Readers’ Choice Awards. “The important thing is just giving the community what they want.” Nicastro attributes the recognition in large part to his staff. “You don’t build a business, you build people and people build your business,” he said. “It’s just having the right people. You surround yourself with a bunch of eagles, not turkeys.” Manager Jessica Gore received gold for best server in the Readers’ Choice Awards this year after having worked for Home Ground for two years. She was promoted to manager in May. “I’m flattered and humbled, for sure,” said Gore. “I’m so honoured that I am nominated by the community at all.” Gore said she’s always working to ensure her customers have the best service possible. “I really do try to take an extra second with the customers,” she said. “I stop everything I’m doing to give them that first greeting. I try to greet every customer with a smile.” Gore said the public recognition is huge. “It reaffirms that I’m doing something good here and it’s getting noticed,” she said. “It’s really nice bragging rights for us.” Also deserving some recognition is the community itself, Nicastro said. “The community is very loyal and I think that you could have the greatest coffee, I think that you could have the great pastries, but if you don’t have the community you have nothing,” he said. “You need the staff and you need the community and I’m very fortunate that I have the best of both. I wouldn’t want to be in a different part of Alberta to do business.”
