Orono restaurant owners share passion for burritos
Photo/Aimee Thibodeau
Verve, a new burrito restaurant in Orono
When they selected Verve as the name of their newest business venture, Abe and Heather Furth were hoping to create a place that would live up to the definition of the word -- lively and full of vitality.
Since opening its doors Tuesday, customers keep filling the modern lime green, brown and orange interior of the new burrito and coffee shop on Main Street in Orono.
"We feel really fortunate that people are excited about it," says Heather Furth.
The Furths, who also are part owners of Woodman's Bar and Grill across the street, always have been passionate about burritos.
"We've made a few trips out West and were surprised there were no burrito places around here," says Heather Furth Tuesday as she stood behind the counter at Verve. "We wanted to create something that was fast, tasty and inexpensive."
The couple took notes about their likes and dislikes as they researched burrito joints across the country.
"We spent some time actually on a burrito truck," she says. Her husband approached the owners of one of their favorite burrito canteen trucks in Oregon and they gladly let him spend a few hours learning about the process, ingredients and the economics of the business.
Last November, the Furths purchased the former Masons building at 2 Mill St. and went to work renovating. While the upstairs had been used by the Masons, the downstairs storefront had housed a variety of businesses over the years. The new owners added a kitchen out back, put in a burrito bar and coffee counter, refinished the wood floors, added seating areas so customers can eat-in or take-out and opened the doors this week.
Heather Furth credits the great opening response to regulars who know the couple from Woodman's, and also support from the local college community.
"We have so many nice regulars. We've been really supported by the community ... I know about 75% of the customers in here right now by first name."
Verve currently has about 20 employees. Heather Furth says she spends about 18 hours a day at Verve and continues to work at Woodman's Friday and Saturday nights while her husband is at the bar and grille about 60 hours each week.
"It's really fun," she says. "It's a lot of work, but we both really like to work."
The couple said they never imagined owning two businesses before the age of 30 (they're both 28), but are enjoying themselves.
"We're just totally committed to our businesses," she said. "It's like they're our kids. You don't abandon them, you just keep on working."
Verve is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Furth admits they were a little nervous opening a new business in today's less-than-ideal economy, but have been encouraged by the success of Woodman's, with a menu that features meals of mid-level pricing from about $7 for a sandwich and fries to $22 for a filet mignon.
"Here [at Verve] we wanted to be inexpensive to appeal to the college community," she says.
A loaded burrito for lunch is $7.95, and you can get a breakfast burrito for $2.99. They also offer locally roasted coffee, bagels from Bagel Central in Bangor, and smoothies that you can get with a variety of boosters including the Verve -- bee pollen, ginko leaf, and maca root to "energize your body and clear your mind."
"We felt like in this economy, offering affordable selections was important," she says.
While they want to get Verve off the ground before tackling a new business venture, the Furths designed the burrito business to be easily replicated as a franchise.
"There's probably not going to be another Woodman's because so much of it is about personality, [but] the Verve concept can be replicated," Furth says. "The New England states are really lacking in burrito and young, hip sort of places."
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