When Mary Altalo moved to Edgefield one year ago, she was looking for a place to have a latte and a scone for breakfast one morning and couldn'’t find one.

"I decided if I was going to have to make my own, I might as well make enough for the whole town," she said.

Barristers Coffee House and Tea Room opened recently on Simpkins Street in Edgefield and features such delicacies as banana walnut and cranberry orange muffins; freshly baked croissants; blueberry or "everything" bagels; fruit and yogurt parfaits; espresso drinks; blended frozen coffee drinks; and fruit drinks. Its hours are Monday through Saturday, 7:30 a.m.-11 a.m. and 2-5 p.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

"I wanted a place where people can come in and relax," she said. "They can bring their computers and hook into the Internet. We have free Wi-Fi. Some people have meetings here. Or some just come to read the newspapers and have coffee."

Barristers is located in the old law office of Eldred Simpkins, a U.S. Congressman and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. He was the son of Arthur Simpkins, often described as the founder of Edgefield.

The Coffee House features three rooms and patrons can sit in whatever room they like: the tea or breakfast room, the coffee room or the ice cream room. The ice cream room features eight flavors of ice cream, sundaes, banana splits, ice cream sodas, floats, milkshakes, frozen yogurt smoothies and a yogurt fruit cup.

For the remainder of this article, please see this week's edition of The Citizen News.