The mission
The Lantern is a third space for Rochester, for the people who don't have one. It is somewhere to be that isn't work and isn't home: a coffeehouse in the daytime where a cup of coffee is enough reason to stay the afternoon, and the same place in the evening, with the lights down and the bar open, where you can still hear the person across the table. Nothing is charged at the door. The business earns on what it serves to people who keep coming back.
That is the part that won't change. Everything below is how we plan to do it, and we expect it to get better as we learn.
The plan as it stands
Each item is marked Settled (decided), Working plan (what we are planning on, and could still change), or Still open (not decided yet).
| Status | Where it stands | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Still open | Near East and Alexander in the East End, about 3,000 to 3,500 square feet. We are looking at spaces now. Location sets out the choices. |
| Hours | Settled | Every day from eleven. Until midnight Monday to Saturday, until eight on Sunday. |
| Holidays | Still open | A handful of holidays will be dark. Which ones is not decided. |
| No cover | Settled | No charge at the door on any night. |
| Programming | Settled | A film early in the week. Thursday and Friday performance nights, paid from a basket. Saturday the weekend crowd, with something on that doesn't take over. Sunday the game in season. Anything on the stage at a volume you can talk over. |
| Special nights | Working plan | Now and then a performance that is the point of the night: a band with its own following, a touring comedian. Announced as the exception, when it suits the place. |
| Food | Settled | Light fare from a small prep kitchen: sandwiches, simple soups, pastries and small plates. Erin bakes the pastries. No dinner service. |
| Drink | Settled | Coffee and tea all day, and a full bar in the evening. |
| Prices | Still open | Priced so a coffee is a good enough reason to come in. The menu and prices will be published when they are set. |
| Memberships | Still open | Founding memberships will be sold before opening. What they include is being worked out; the founding members list is the way to hear first. |
| Private gatherings | Settled | The Lantern can be borrowed for a gathering on request. It isn't a business line and isn't advertised. |
| Owners | Settled | Regis Joseph Acosta and Erin Tepesch Acosta. Both keep their jobs and work in the business part time. |
| General manager | Still open | Someone who has run a licensed bar will run The Lantern day to day. We are talking to people now. Work with us says what the job is. |
| Financing | Working plan | The owners' own savings and a small-business loan. No outside investors. |
| Opening | Working plan | Aiming for spring 2027. The date depends on the lease and the liquor licence, and will be firmed up once both are in hand. |
What has changed
The plan has already moved, and each change so far has been in the same direction: closer to a place people want to spend time in, and further from a venue.
- September 2026. No cover at the door on any night. Sundays open until eight instead of closing at five, with the game on in the evening. Performance nights held to a volume you can talk over, with special nights as the announced exception. Private events dropped as a line of business. The food settled as light fare.
Reading further
Lenders and prospective general managers can ask for the full business plan, which carries the financial model behind all of this. Write to founder@thelanternroc.com.
Next: Location