Delicious food and tasty coffee at City Hall?

Veteran political reporters can tell you that’s not the customary fare in most American cities.

But Fresno is on the verge of being the rare exception to the rule, and City Manager Georganne White is virtually jumping out of her shoes.

The City Council is scheduled to take up a proposed lease Thursday with Cracked Pepper to operate a café at City Hall.

“We are thrilled to have Cracked Pepper bring their signature style and culinary taste to downtown Fresno,” White said in a news release. “This café will not only provide affordable food options — it will also offer the sweet treat the restaurant is most known for — its bread pudding.”

Addition Answers Employees Request

The addition of the café comes after more than 450 employees responded to a survey about the food service options they wanted at City Hall. Many expressed strong interest in convenient and high-quality food at a reasonable cost. 

The Cracked Pepper Café will be open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, city officials said.

Counter Service Offering a ‘Quick, Quality Bite’

Chef Vatche Moukhtarian described the café as “a counter-service spot downtown for great coffee and a quick, quality bite.”

As to why the operator of the fine dining Cracked Pepper Bistro in north Fresno would venture downtown to City Hall, Moukhtarian said:

“Fresno has been so good to me and my family — the customers, the community, all of it. … For 19 years, Fresno has been part of my family’s story — now we get to be part of the city’s everyday, serving the people who keep Fresno running.”