The new Steam & Steel Café that will open Friday, May 9, at the space formerly occupied by the Mobius can mean different things to different people.
It could of course be referring to the huge steam engines that drive the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad trains into town.
Or it could refer to the steam from hot, fresh coffee and the steel of classic cruiser bicycles.
But for Lyn Simon and Eric Dunn, who just moved here from Denver to open the café, it means finally having a chance to live in what Lyn called “this magical little town.”
The café opens Friday, with hours from 7 to 4 p.m., and evening hours to be announced. Megan Kimmel will be the café’s manager.
The café will serve organic Kaladi Bros. coffees from all over the world.
It also will feature SerendipiTea organic teas, pastries, and breakfast burritos. Lunch wraps and smoothies will also be served. And coming soon: Panini sandwiches and salads. An evening menu of “light fare,” cheese platters and desserts, is also in the works.
A license to serve beer and wine at the Steam & Steel Café is pending.
Simon says she has been coming to Silverton for about seven years.
“I ride the Iron Horse (Bicycle) Classic every year,” Simon said.
“I remember first riding into town and thinking — what a magical little town,” Simon said  “A part of me kind of stayed here. I’ve been trying to get here for the last three or four years.”
During a visit in January, she found the Mobius Café had closed, leaving a void on Greene Street. She started doing research on what it would take to open a café, received help from San Juan 2000, the local nonprofit economic development agency, “and here we are.”
The café also plans to offer a dozen old cruiser bicycles for rent.