Building More Than a Restaurant
For many people in Sussex, New Brunswick, Taste & See Restaurant and Stable Grounds Café is a place to enjoy a meal, meet friends, or grab a coffee on a busy day.
For Sylvia Tibbetts, it represents something much deeper. It represents faith & perseverance.
And perhaps most importantly, it represents finally stepping into a dream she once doubted was possible.
Today, Sylvia is the owner of one of Sussex’s most beloved gathering places. Yet her journey to becoming a business owner was anything but straightforward.
“I remember my sister saying, ‘It’s time for you to jump.’ So I jumped.”
“I consider myself a late-blooming business owner,” Sylvia says with a smile.
Before stepping into the restaurant industry, she worked in several different careers while raising four boys. Life presented its share of challenges, including financial hardship, personal struggles, and the constant balancing act that many parents know all too well.
Through it all, one thing remained constant: her love of cooking and serving others.
Friday Coffee & A Dream
Long before she owned Taste & See, Sylvia was one of its customers. Money was often tight, but every Friday she allowed herself a small treat.
A coffee.
The café offered inspirational sleeves on their coffee cups, and Sylvia began collecting them. Every Friday she would save her coffee sleeve and carry the encouraging messages with her throughout the week. Looking back now, those simple words seem almost prophetic.
“I couldn’t afford to eat out very often,” she recalls. “But every Friday, I’d come in and get my coffee. I still have memories of those inspirational sleeves.” At the time, she had no idea those same walls would eventually become part of her own story.
The Leap
While working at another job, Sylvia often joked that owning a restaurant would be a dream come true.
One day, an opportunity arrived. The owners of Taste & See needed help in the kitchen.
Sylvia was offered a position.
The decision wasn’t easy. The new role meant giving up benefits and stepping into an industry where she had no previous restaurant experience.
Friends and family encouraged her. Her sister delivered the advice that would ultimately change her life.
“Just do it.”
At the same time, Sylvia had recently watched a motivational talk encouraging people to take a leap of faith.
“I remember my sister saying, ‘It’s time for you to jump.’ So I jumped.”
On her very first day, she walked into the kitchen and saw an entire wall filled with spices. Most people might not understand why that moment mattered. Sylvia does.
“It was like looking at diamond rings,” she laughs. “It was everything I’d ever wanted.”
Finding Her Calling
Not long after joining the team, Sylvia prepared her first breakfast on her own. She watched nervously as the meal was delivered to a customer. Then she waited. The customer finished eating. The server returned. “Everything had been delicious” the customer said with satisfaction.
“I remember thinking, ‘I did it.'”
That moment confirmed something she had always suspected. She had found her place.
“My father used to say that if you find something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. I haven’t worked yet.” It’s a statement she says with complete sincerity. Years later, that passion remains evident in every conversation about the restaurant.
Becoming the Owner
As Sylvia settled into her role, the previous owners began joking that perhaps she should buy the business. At first, the idea seemed impossible. She still had children at home. She didn’t come from a business background and she didn’t see herself at that time as an entrepreneur.
Yet the thought wouldn’t go away.
After receiving an inheritance from her late father, Sylvia began exploring what ownership might look like.
The road wasn’t easy. Financing needed to be arranged. Approvals were required. Questions lingered. But somehow, every piece began falling into place. The financing worked, the numbers aligned, the support appeared. And eventually, Sylvia became the owner of Taste & See Restaurant and Stable Grounds Café.
Then, just six months later, COVID arrived.
“We signed the papers in September. By March with COVID we were still able to serve the community through take-out orders.” Like countless business owners across Canada, she faced uncertainty unlike anything she had imagined. But the restaurant endured — and so did Syliva.
Faith, Humility and Leadership
Faith has been woven into the story of Taste & See since the restaurant first opened. For Sylvia, that faith continues to shape both her leadership and her perspective. One word appears repeatedly throughout our conversation.
Humility.
For years, Sylvia avoided attention. If photos were taken, someone else would stand in front of the camera. If people asked about ownership, she often stepped into the background. Recently, however, she has begun embracing something new. Ownership. Not simply of the business.
Ownership of her voice, her story, and her place within the community.
“It’s time for you to stand up,” she told herself. “It’s time to take ownership.”
An All Women Team
One of the most unique aspects of Taste & See is the team behind it.
The restaurant is operated by an all-women staff, something Sylvia speaks about with tremendous pride.
She credits much of the restaurant’s success to the culture they have built together.
A culture based on respect. A culture built without gossip.
A culture where people support one another through life’s challenges.
“We don’t talk about each other. We don’t gossip about each other.”
The result has been more than a workplace.
It has become a family.
Over the years, Sylvia has watched young women arrive lacking confidence, struggling with anxiety, or uncertain about their future.
She has also watched them grow.
Some have moved on to college.
Others have taken larger roles elsewhere.
Many still return to visit.
“We love them through it.”
It’s a simple sentence. But it speaks volumes.
Strength Through Adversity
Recent years have brought significant personal challenges for Sylvia. Family illness. Loss. Difficult life transitions. Moments that might have broken others. Instead, she found strength in the people around her. Her staff stood beside her. Her family supported her. Her faith carried her forwards.
Looking around the restaurant today, it’s clear that Sylvia sees far more than tables and chairs.
She sees relationships.
She sees community.
She sees purpose.
Advice for Future Entrepreneurs
When asked what advice she would give someone considering entrepreneurship, Sylvia pauses. Then she reflects on what she wishes she had understood years ago. The answer isn’t about business plans. Or financing. Or marketing.
It’s about believing in yourself.
For much of her life, she didn’t fully see herself as a business owner. Now she does. Looking back, she realizes the dream was always hers.
“It was my dream.”
Sometimes the hardest step isn’t building the business. Sometimes it’s believing you’re worthy of building it.
Perhaps the greatest lesson from Sylvia’s journey is not that she built a successful business, but that she learned to believe in herself along the way. Through adversity, faith, perseverance, and a willingness to take the leap, she has become a source of strength for those around her. In doing so, she reminds us that the dreams we carry are worth pursuing, and that sometimes the greatest impact we can have is helping others discover the courage to pursue theirs as well.
Rapid Fire Questions with Sylvia
Coffee or Tea?
Coffee
Early Bird or Night Owl?
Early Bird
Favourite Menu Item?
The Peanut Butter Burger
Favourite Place in Sussex?
Home
One Word Her Staff Would Use to Describe Her?
Strong
If You Could Share a Meal With Anyone?
Her parents
“My father always believed I could do anything.”
PHOTO LEFT: Sylvia Tibbetts – Owner Taste & See (right), Chuck Bates – Editor HWC Atlantic
A Community Treasure
Spend a few minutes talking with Sylvia Tibbetts and one thing becomes clear.
Taste & See Restaurant was never just about food.
It’s about people.
It’s about creating a place where strangers become friends, employees become family, and a simple cup of coffee can become the beginning of something much larger.
Much like the inspirational coffee sleeves Sylvia collected years ago, her story serves as a reminder that sometimes the smallest moments can quietly point us toward our future.
And sometimes all that’s required is the courage to jump.
From the Author – Chuck Bates – Harbour Wave Communications & Media
Every interview leaves an impression.
Some inspire you with business success. Others leave you reflecting on something much deeper.
My conversation with Sylvia Tibbetts was one of those conversations.
As we spoke, I found myself thinking less about restaurants and entrepreneurship and more about the dreams we carry throughout our lives. The dreams we quietly hold onto while raising families, overcoming challenges, navigating setbacks, and simply trying to get through the demands of everyday life.
What stood out most about Sylvia was not that she became a successful business owner. It was her willingness to finally believe that the dream she carried was worthy of pursuing.
Throughout our conversation, themes of faith, humility, perseverance, and community surfaced again and again. Whether speaking about her staff, her customers, her family, or the many challenges she has faced along the way, Sylvia consistently redirected attention toward the people around her and the lessons she has learned from them.
Perhaps that is why Taste & See feels like more than a restaurant to so many people. It reflects the character of the person behind it.
Stories like Sylvia’s remind us that some of the most inspiring individuals in our communities are not seeking recognition. They are simply showing up every day, serving others, building relationships, and making a difference one person at a time.
The purpose of People of Atlantic Canada is to celebrate those individuals and the communities they help shape.
If you know someone whose story deserves to be shared—a business owner, volunteer, artist, educator, entrepreneur, or community leader—I would love to hear from you.
To suggest someone for a future feature profile, please contact Harbour Wave Communications & Media:
Link directly to Author Chuck Bates @ contact@hwcAtlantic.com