About Us

Thank you so much for your interest in Haven’s Café and the story behind it! We are the Hamiltons. After many years in the restaurant industry, we are thrilled to use our knowledge and experience to serve our community and those who visit it. Haven’s Café is absolutely the realization of our lifelong dream, and we hope you enjoy your experience here as much as we enjoy creating it!

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• Our Founders: Husband and wife team, Derrick and Amelia, with over 25 years of combined experience in the restaurant industry.

• A Family-First Vision: Derrick and Amelia founded Haven's Café with their two children, Hinton and Haven, in mind. The breakfast and lunch schedule allows them to be home for family dinners.

• The Journey to Winnsboro: After working in restaurants across the country—from Florida to Colorado—they fell in love with Winnsboro and chose it as the perfect place to raise their family and open a business.

• Handcrafted & Local: The Hamiltons are passionate about serving the Winnsboro community and are actively involved in both the front and back of the house.

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Detailed background

Derrick grew up in Arlington, TX with a great work ethic and awesome family.  He went on to college at Texas Tech getting his undergrad in Marketing.  During this time his passion for food blossomed and he went on to get his Masters in Hotel & Restaurant Management also from Tech.  Derrick got his feet wet cooking at South Seas Plantation, even getting to play with a chainsaw doing ice carvings.  He went on to get his associates at culinary school in Charleston, South Carolina.   As in most things in life earning a degree is fantastic but it’s actual experience in the field where you earn your stripes and grow in your knowledge.  While in Charleston Derrick had the opportunity to cook under Chef Jason Schultz at High Cotton on King Street.  It was here that Derrick truly learned the ins and outs of the industry and an appreciation for high quality food.  Throughout the last 20+ years later Derrick has had the opportunity to cook and manage restaurants all over the country. From Florida to North and South Carolina, to Colorado and of course his home state of Texas.  He’s cooked at resorts like being the Sous Chef at C Lazy U guest ranch, was the Sous Chef of Winter Park Ski Resort, while also running many Mom and Pop establishments along the way.

 

I grew up in coastal Massachusetts and never imagined a future life in Texas.  I got my start in the restaurant industry at 14 where I hostessed and bussed at a local Italian restaurant.  I went on to waitress for summers throughout highschool.  For college I traveled cross country to Denver attending and earning my BA from University of Denver.  It was during this time that I met Derrick on a dude ranch in the mountains of Colorado.  After graduating I moved up to Winter Park to be closer to Derrick.  While in Winter Park Derrick and I had our first opportunity working restaurants together and we found that we actually complimented each other well.  We worked together four years at Randi’s, and during that time I also was a Barista/server mornings at a phenomenal Bakery/Café called Carver’s.  Both Randi’s and Carver’s are still there today and we had a blast taking our kids and showing them where we used to work.  We married in 2006 and while on our 3 month RV honeymoon found Carolina Beach, North Carolina and began planning our move that way.  We traded the ski bum life for the beach for the next four years and worked together again. 

But when it came time to grow up and start a family of our own moving closer to Derrick’s amazing family in Texas made the most sense.  We spent time in Arlington, Glen Rose, Fort Worth and prior to Winnsboro, 5 years in Weatherford.

 

Derrick and I moved our family to Winnsboro, Texas in December of 2020.  We had some dear friends move this way and after going for a visit we fell in love with the area too!  We found our little dream farmhouse and it was a no brainer to make the move.  Over many porch sits and dinner conversations the concept for Haven’s Café emerged.  With our grade school children, Hinton (10) and Haven (8) it was important to keep our family life a priority.  A breakfast and lunch café really fit the bill for allowing us to work while the kids were in school and be home for family dinners and evening activities.  After spending time in the community and understanding it’s needs, it was clear there was a real void for coffee, breakfast and lunch options.  Just one mile from our front door we found the perfect space for our dream to become a reality.  Through the help of an amazing friend we purchased the property at 303 N Main Street and began the process of opening Haven’s Café. 

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Opening Haven’s Cafe was the fulfillment of our dream to work for ourselves and operate our own restaurant! We are truly honored to serve the Winnsboro community and are so appreciative of all the encouragement and support we have received ever since arriving and opening Haven’s! Thank you!